During a fundraising event in San Francisco on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden did not mince words when he referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "crazy son of a b" according to a report by CNN.
Biden expressed his concern about the global risks posed by leaders like Putin, stating, "We have a crazy S.O.B. that guy, Putin, others. And we always have to be worried about a nuclear conflict. But the existential threat to humanity is climate."
In addition to his remarks about Putin, Biden also addressed comments made by former President Donald Trump.
Trump had drawn parallels between his legal challenges and the plight of Alexei Navalny, a renowned Russian opposition leader and critic of the Kremlin. Biden, paraphrasing Trump's comparison, shared with the audience his disbelief, saying, "if I stood here 10 to 15 years ago and said all this, you’d all think I should be committed."
Biden continued, "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. Where the hell does this come from," underscoring his astonishment at the comparison.
Notably, Trump, who is seen as the Republican frontrunner for the 2024 presidential race, stands out among Western leaders, including Biden, for not having condemned Russia or Putin in relation to Navalny's death.
The backdrop to these comments includes Trump's previous campaign statements, where he recounted threatening allies to provoke Russia into aggression to compel them to increase their NATO contributions.
These statements stirred significant concern among allies, prompting the NATO Secretary General to appeal to Trump not to weaken the alliance's deterrence system.
