You knew it wouldn’t take long before leftists, Neocons and Trump haters would all weigh in on the epic SmackDown at The Oval™ that took place Friday afternoon, where the president and his number two VP JD Vance weren’t buying the insolence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was throwing down.

As we reported, failed political hacks—both “former,” because nobody would consider voting for them any longer—Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) quickly weighed in with their unhinged takes.

Now former National Security Adviser, Ambassador to the U.N. and Barack Obama acolyte Susan Rice is jumping on board, and she’s got her knickers in a twist. She appeared on MSNBC (where else?) Friday to cast her disapproval.

It was all a setup, she alleged:

It's a very sad day and an embarrassment for the United States on the world stage. But let's step back and analyze what's happened here. I think there's no question that this was a setup.

You heard Donald Trump say at the end of that clip you played, this is great television. This was a setup. Vladimir [sic], I mean, excuse me, Vladimir Zelensky was compelled to agree to a horrible deal that would have sent Ukraine's minerals to the United States without any concrete security guarantees.

And yet, because he was trying to improve a relationship with Donald Trump, he came to Washington, he came to the Oval Office and sat down for a meeting, hat in hand. And soon after he got there, the vice president of the United States lit into him and started a confrontation.

Whose side is she on, exactly?

Based on what she says here, you’d think Susan Rice was a Ukrainian official on state-sponsored TV, not a former US official! Why is a deal she considers advantageous to the US bad? Does she really think Zelenskyy “democratically represents” his people more than our president? pic.twitter.com/CzeDXKiB0t

— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) March 1, 2025

This is wrong on so many levels. Number one, as we have reported, Trump was confident and hopeful that a deal was forthcoming and greeted Zelensky with open arms. There was no indication that he was looking for the (figurative) brawl that eventually unfolded. Two, it was Zelensky who brought the discord, first questioning the United States' support, then trying to embarrass the VP. Not a smart move.

Think before you speak, Volodymyr:

If you watch the full Trump-Zelensky press conference, it is very clear that Zelensky, not Trump or Vance, became the antagonist. Both POTUS and VP were very respectful and cordial until Zelensky very publicly ignited a firestorm.

It all starts at 40:30

1) Zelensky essentially… pic.twitter.com/xrM4cWSPny

— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) February 28, 2025

1) Zelensky essentially rejects how VP described the mandate of POTUS to conduct foreign affairs, and he insinuates that Trump term one did nothing to stop Putin. 

If you’ll remember, it was in 2014 under Obama’s watch that Putin moved into the Crimea with little blowback, then it was in 2022 that he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine—under the watch of Joe Biden. I’m not so sure I’m looking for Susan Rice’s opinion at this time.

Rice once again misses the plot:

And I think, as he said at the end, because he can't help himself, this was a setup for the cameras. It was a play to his base. But above all, it was a play to Vladimir Putin, to show fealty to Vladimir Putin and to try to humiliate Zelensky.

Putin is a danger, that much is true. But the attempts to label Trump as a puppet to the Russian leader have all failed miserably. Yes, we have to negotiate with people we don’t like occasionally. As I wrote in an earlier piece Friday:

This Russia-Ukraine war is an ugly and tragic thing and needs to be ended yesterday, and Putin is no friend of the USA, but Trump is right that it’s not going to happen if one of the key players is uninterested in negotiating a peace.

Wherever this thing goes, I think it’s safe to say that the advice of Susan Rice is not needed or wanted.