A prominent member of Russia's parliament has exploited the deadly shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington to ridicule the United States.
Alexei Pushkov, who heads the international affairs committee, tweeted that "nobody's even surprised anymore" by such an attack, which he called "a clear confirmation of American exceptionalism".
The USA should part with the notion of American exceptionalism. It contradicts the principles of equal rights and smells of political racism
Pushkov, who also hosts a political talk show, serves as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin's most anti-American faction.
In an opinion piece published last week in The New York Times, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised America for seeing itself as exceptional.
