Tillis delivers snarky U.S. civics lesson to Russian prime minister on Twitter

Sen. Thom Tillis took to Twitter on Wednesday to deliver a lesson in the United States’ system of governance – to the Russian prime minister.

The exchange came on the same day President Donald Trump signed a Russian sanctions bill into law. The bill, which also included sanctions against North Korea and Iran, was approved with overwhelming support in Congress. Trump signed it with some reluctance – issuing a long signing statement outlining his criticism of the bill, including that it usurps executive power.

“The bill remains seriously flawed – particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate,” Trump said.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev posted his response to the bill signing on Twitter.

“The Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way,” he wrote.

Tillis, a Republican, replied to Medvedev with a civics lesson.

“Mr. Medvedev, the US has three co-equal branches of gov’t, a concept you’re clearly not familiar with under the Putin dictatorship,” Tillis wrote.

Medvedev was president of Russia from 2008 to 2012 and then became prime minister when Vladimir Putin took over as president for the second time.

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Tillis delivers snarky U.S. civics lesson to Russian prime minister on Twitter."