Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva lashed out against recent concerns in the U.S. over "fat shaming" Santa Claus—traditionally represented as a big man in a red coat—and misgendering his reindeer Rudolph.
Talking on Russia-1, a state-owned television channel, the TV host mocked both Washington and Kyiv for the way they were celebrating Christmas this year, saying of the U.S. that Americans are "so touchingly concerned about Santa being fat-shamed and the gender identity of his reindeer."
While these are not topics widely discussed in the U.S., a recent controversy was stirred in Australia by a New South Wales-based doctor's call to ban "fat Santas" from shopping malls. Expecting Santa to be fat "sends the wrong message," Vincent Candrawinata told the Herald Sun.
On the other hand, the gender of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer has already been questioned by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who tweeted in 2020 that Rudolph must have been female.
"Santa doesn't know Zoology," deGrasse Tyson wrote on Twitter.
"Both male & female Reindeer grow antlers. But all male Reindeer lose their antlers in the late fall, well-before Christmas. So Santa's reindeer, which all sport antlers, are therefore all female, which means Rudolf has been misgendered."
Santa doesn’t know Zoology:
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2020
Both male & female Reindeer grow antlers. But all male Reindeer lose their antlers in the late fall, well-before Christmas.
So Santa’s reindeer, which all sport antlers, are therefore all female, which means Rudolf has been misgendered. pic.twitter.com/fkHqhJM7dY
Though apparently inaccurate, Skabeyeva's comment about the U.S. being concerned over issues ranging from fat-shaming to gender identity plays into the narrative that the Kremlin has been pushing for years: one that portrays Vladimir Putin's Russia as one of the world's last standing defenders of traditional values against the West's alleged moral decadence.
In the Kremlin's world view, Ukraine falls in line with the West.
The clip of Skabeyeva's comments was tweeted by BBC Monitoring's Francis Scarr on Monday.
Addressing the Russian public from the platform of a channel that's estimated to reach some 75 percent of the country's population, Skabeyeva went on with a tirade against Ukraine and the country's ties with the U.S., ironically saying that "Christian values are in perfect order" in Ukraine.
Merry Christmas from Olga Skabeyeva 🎄 pic.twitter.com/YplUqmWkAc
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) December 26, 2022
"Admittedly, two new characters have unexpectedly appeared in the biblical story. Look—of course Joe Biden has wormed his way in and naturally Stepan Bandera too," she said, showing on screen what appeared to be an image of a nativity scene at an unspecified location.
Bandera was the leader of the radical wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, named OUN-B, who is said to have collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.
The existence of such a nativity scene was not confirmed by either Ukrainian sources or international news media and could not immediately be verified by Newsweek. Any mention of such a nativity scene has only been made by Russian news media and could therefore be considered part of the Kremlin's propaganda against Ukraine, considering it played into Putin's claims that Russian troops are fighting "Nazis" in Ukraine.
Skabeyeva is considered one of the top Kremlin propagandists in Russia, where she was dubbed "Iron Doll of Putin TV."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
