Delivering the commencement address for Georgetown University on Saturday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken left the audience in splits when he took a dig at Russian President Vladamir Putin using a Taylor Swift song as a reference.
Amid the ongoing Ukraine invasion, Blinken hinted that ties with Russia will likely remain strained. “So, I want to start by kicking the elephant out of the room: Yes, NYU got Taylor Swift as their commencement speaker. Now, my staff did not let me bring my guitar up here to dedicate a performance of ‘We are never, ever getting back together’ to President Putin,” Blinken is heard saying in the video shared by ABC News.
⚡️🇺🇸US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joked that he would like to dedicate Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, hinting that the U.S. is not currently planning to improve relations with Russia. pic.twitter.com/p6jOuryZAO
— Ukraine Now Media (@UkraineNowMedia) May 22, 2022
“They said it would be “undiplomatic” and also “cringe”. Also, since when is cringe an adjective?” he added.
⚡️🇺🇸US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joked that he would like to dedicate Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, hinting that the U.S. is not currently planning to improve relations with Russia. pic.twitter.com/p6jOuryZAO
— Ukraine Now Media (@UkraineNowMedia) May 22, 2022
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/ZRiXTYGhGr
— JB_#IStandwithUkraine and Putin sucks (@Janet771000991) May 22, 2022
Notably, pop superstar Swift, in her now-viral commencement address at New York University, urged graduates to “learn to live alongside cringe”. “No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively,” she said. She received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from NYU.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the US has extended support to the war-torn country and imposed sanctions on Russia. US President Joe Biden on Saturday a signed legislation to support Ukraine with another USD 40 billion in US assistance.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have gained control over the port city of Mariupol with more than 20,000 civilians feared dead. It would be Russia’s biggest victory so far in the war with Ukraine.
