Патриотизм с юмором: Republican Party’s Blunder with a Soviet ‘Zhiguli’

The Republican Party in the United States has unveiled a bill aimed at ‘resurrecting America’s great automobiles,’ but its accompanying announcement featured a photograph of a Soviet-era Lada ‘Zhiguli.’ This was reported by the party’s official account on social media platform X.

In the post announcing the initiative, a photograph of former U.S. President Donald Trump poses in front of a yellow VAZ-2105 ‘Zhiguli.’ The caption claims that ‘one big beautiful bill will promote the return of America’s great car.’

The post’s irony wasn’t lost on social media users. Many commented on the combination of a patriotic statement with a car that has no connection to American automotive industry. Some commenters pointed out that the car, which served as a backdrop for the announcement, was produced in the USSR and Russia, not the USA, raising questions about its suitability for illustrating the theme of reviving American cars.

The VAZ-2105 is a model of passenger car produced by the Volga Automobile Plant from 1980 to 2010. It was part of the ‘Zhiguli’ lineup and was one of the most popular and recognizable cars in the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that ‘Moskvich’ is considering switching its Chinese manufacturing partner.