Anti-smoking posters in Moscow have used the image of U.S. President Barack Obama smoking to deter smokers — saying that both he and cigarettes are killers.
The poster has a photoshopped image of the U.S. president and the words: “Smoking kills more people than Obama, although he kills a lot of people. Don't smoke ?€” don't be like Obama.”
Russian State Duma opposition deputy Dmitry Gudkov published a photograph of the bus stop poster on Facebook, adding a Soviet joke about freedom of speech in the United States versus the Soviet Union ?€” essentially, Soviet citizens were free to criticize U.S. presidents while standing in Red Square.
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?€?In fact, I am disgusted and ashamed of what appears on the streets of the Russian capital,?€? Gudkov said.
Obama has often been targeted in racist and anti-American campaigns. In December 2015, a major Russian supermarket chain apologized after selling a chopping board with Obama pictured as a chimpanzee.
In January a pro-Kremlin art community hung a banner depicting Obama, with the caption ?€?killer,?€? opposite the U.S. Embassy in the center of Moscow.
Tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths annually, and is projected to cause 8 millions deaths per year by 2030, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in December 2015.
In 2009 Obama said that he ?€?constantly?€? struggles with cigarettes. ?€?I would say that I am 95 percent cured,?€? Obama said, ?€?But there are times where I mess up.?€?
At a 2013 event, Obama said that it was Michelle Obama who ?€?scared?€? him into quitting smoking. ?€?I haven’t had a cigarette in six years," the president said. "That?€™s because I?€™m scared of my wife.?€?