President Joe Biden didn’t hold back during a fundraiser for his reelection campaign Wednesday night, taking direct aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Donald Trump . Biden’s comments buzzed controversy and drew reactions from both domestic and international audiences. Addressing a private audience in San Francisco, Biden exclaimed, “We have a crazy SOB like Putin and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate.”
These remarks came after Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized Biden, “The use of such language against the head of another state by the president of the United States is unlikely to infringe on our president, President Putin. But it debases those who use such vocabulary.”
🇷🇺🇺🇸 Biden called Putin a “crazy son of a bitch” after he said Russia would prefer Biden for POTUS over Trump. Putin reaffirms his position and says he still prefers Biden. “it’s an adequate reaction” said Putin. pic.twitter.com/NNgH3qBx9m
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) February 22, 2024
As per HuffPost , when Putin was questioned regarding the statement. He asserted, “Listen, we talked not long ago. And you asked who would be preferred as the future president of the United States. I said that we would work with any president. But I suppose that for us, for Russia, Biden is preferable. Judging by what he has just said, I was absolutely right.”
Biden’s criticism didn’t stop with Putin. He also took shots at Trump, mocking the former president’s comparison of himself to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who recently died in a Russian prison under suspicious circumstances.
As per NBC , Biden remarked, “Some of the things that this fellow’s been saying like he’s comparing himself to Navalny and saying that ― because our country’s become a communist country, he was persecuted, just like Navalny was persecuted. I don’t know where the hell this comes from. I mean, if I stood here 10, 15 years ago and said any of this, you’d all think I should be committed. It astounds me. I’ve been around a long time and I’ve never quite seen a crowd like this MAGA Republican crowd. They seem to have very little moral compass on what is important to people.”
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While some appreciate his straightforward approach, others criticize him for being too blunt or undiplomatic. During the San Franciso fundraiser Biden further added, “As I walk out of meetings, a head of state will find an excuse to come up close and say: ‘You’ve got to win.’ Not because I’m so special. You’ve got to win because my democracy is at stake if the other guy wins. I’ve served with real racists; I’ve served with Strom Thurmond. I’ve served with all these guys that have set terrible records on race. But guess what? These guys are worse. These guys do not believe in basic democratic principles.”
The president’s comments on Putin and Trump come at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Russia, with Navalny’s death and Biden’s subsequent criticism of Putin adding fuel to the fire. Biden’s administration is poised to announce a major sanctions package against Russia, further escalating the situation.