President Biden’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” muddied US policy and threatened to undermine diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war.
On Saturday, March 26, 2022, in the Polish capital of Warsaw, Mr. Biden appeared to issue his strongest condemnation of Mr. Putin to date. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Mr. Biden concluded his speech.
Minutes after Biden spoke, the White House on Saturday immediately attempted to clean up Biden’s comment about Putin not remaining in power, saying that the president meant to convey that Putin “cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”
“President Biden’s careless remark is fuel for Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine and breaks unity with our NATO allies. It only ratchets up tensions,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.).
Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he wished the president would “stay on script.”
Republicans argued that the remark was the latest example of Biden creating confusion about the administration’s stance on foreign policy in light of the Russian invasion.
Watch Biden’s speech, more reactions, and Kremlin’s response.
A worst-case scenario, some Republicans fear, is that Biden’s verbal slips and his administration’s cleanup could be a prelude to a failing foreign policy.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, March 27, 2022, French President Macron warns against using inflammatory language after Biden’s Putin remark, and added that he would not have used Biden’s words, further adding that he saw his task as “achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of [Russian] troops by diplomatic means”.
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