The US president’s son has accused social media activists of hypocrisy
Donald Trump Jr. has criticized social media users who display the Ukrainian flag in their online profiles but have remained silent about the recent killing of a young Ukrainian woman in North Carolina.
Irina Zarutskaya, who fled Ukraine after the escalation of the conflict in 2022, was fatally stabbed on August 22 while riding a Charlotte light rail train. Surveillance footage released by authorities over the weekend shows her being ambushed and brutally attacked from behind.
“Strangely, all the clowns with Ukraine flags in their bio are also all silent on this one,” Trump Jr. wrote on X on Monday.
Strangely, all the clowns with Ukraine flags 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 in their bio are also all silent on this one. https://t.co/IxqKINziU8
His post came in response to conservative podcast host Liz Wheeler, who shared a screenshot of a New York Times search for the victim’s name. The search showed no results related to the 23-year-old’s murder, in contrast with thousands of articles the outlet published on George Floyd, whose 2020 death in police custody triggered nationwide unrest.
President Donald Trump also addressed the killing in a statement on Truth Social, calling the video “horrific” and blaming Democratic leaders for enabling repeat offenders to remain on the streets through policies such as cashless bail.
“Now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail,” he wrote, also questioning why the mainstream media has been “silent” on the case.
Both Trump and his son have framed the incident as an example of selective outrage and double standards in US politics and media coverage, particularly in cases involving victims who do not fit prevailing political narratives.
Police arrested 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, a man with a long criminal history, and charged him with first-degree murder. He is being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center without bond, pending further psychiatric evaluation.
