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President Joe Biden said Monday his previous comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin were made out of frustration and were not a formal call for a policy change to remove him from office.
“I wasn’t then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it,” President Biden told reporters.
The president made international headlines over the weekend when he said, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” referring to the Russian president who has launched an attack on Ukraine.
President Biden made the remarks during a short trip to Poland, where he also referred to Mr. Putin as a “butcher.”
On Monday, President Biden said he was “not walking anything back” but stressed he was expressing the “moral outrage” he felt over the brutality the Russian leader is inflicting on Ukraine. He said he had just spent time with families who are suffering because of the war.
“What complicates the situation of the moment is the escalatory efforts of Putin to continue to engage in carnage, the kind of behavior that makes the whole world say, ‘My God, what is this man doing?’” Biden said.
The president returned to the U.S. Sunday after the four-day trip overseas.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
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