Former pizza delivery executive “Papa” John Schnatter on Friday said President Joe Biden had caused Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “smokescreen” to distract from domestic political matters.

       Mr Schnatter, who founded the Papa John’s pizza delivery chain in 1984, was once a ubiquitous presence on American television thanks to his frequent appearances in his company’s advertising.

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       But he was forced from his role as CEO of the company in October 2017 after complaining that the NFL — a major corporate partner at the time — hadn’t done enough to stop Black players from kneeling during pre-game national anthem performances.

       He was subsequently forced to resign as the chairman of Papa John’s board after the release of a recording in which he repeatedly used racial slurs.

       The disgraced pizza mogul now appears to be attempting a comeback to public life as a conservative media figure, and to that end made his baseless accusations against Mr Biden during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

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       He said he didn’t know whether Mr Biden’s administration was “incompetent” or whether the current crisis was started “intentionally” but pivoted immediately to the latter option by restating a conspiracy theory about Mr Biden’s revocation of a permit for a Canadian oil pipeline.

       “When you cut off our pipeline, and you open up Russia’, and you give the guys $750bn. It looks to me like it’s pretty intentional. But what a great smokescreen, what a great distraction from all the real issues here that affect Americans,” he said.