President Biden called Vladimir V. Putin, the president of Russia, a “crazy sob” during an evening fundraiser in California, which the Kremlin dismissed as “Hollywood cowboy-style behavior.”
“We have a crazy son of a bitch like this Putin and others, and we always have to worry about a nuclear conflict,” Mr. Biden told a crowd of donors in San Francisco on Wednesday evening.
Mr Biden’s comments drew Moscow’s ire and led to a blunt comparison.
In a television interview, Mr. Putin said he thought he knew why Mr. Biden reacted strongly. The Russian president said last week that it was in Russia’s interest for Mr. Biden to win a second term – a statement seen by some as a roundabout way of imposing on Mr. Biden the support of one of America’s biggest adversaries.
Mr Putin said he believed Mr Biden’s remark was the result of that endorsement.
“He can’t say, ‘Volodya, good boy, thank you, you helped me a lot.’ “We understand what is happening with domestic politics in the United States,” Putin said, using a nickname for Vladimir.
Dmitry S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, accused Mr. Biden of performing for his home audience.
“It is clear that Mr. Biden is engaging in Hollywood cowboy-style behavior to serve domestic political interests,” Mr. Peskov said.
In California, Mr. Biden also criticized former President Donald J. Trump for comparing his legal troubles to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei A. Navalny.
“If I had stood here 10 to 15 years ago and said all of this, you would all think I should get involved,” Mr. Biden said. He added that Mr. Trump has been terrible for the Republican Party.
“I don’t agree with a lot of Republicans, but they were decent women and men. At least they had an American moral center. “That seems to be lost on some of the things this guy said,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump.
“As if he compares himself to Nalvany and says that he is being persecuted because our country has become a communist country, just as Nalvany was persecuted. I mean, where the hell did that come from?”
Mr. Trump has shown a remarkable affinity for Mr. Putin over the years. He recently stated that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever they want” with countries that he believes are lagging behind NATO.
Mr. Biden has openly criticized Mr. Putin. Last week he blamed “Putin and his thugs” for Mr. Navalny’s death. He has also called Mr Putin a “butcher” and said after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power.”
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2024-02-22 19:35:58
www.nytimes.com
