2024-02-22 13:42:00
(CNN) — US President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy HDP” at a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the press team traveling with him.
“We have a crazy hdp that guy, Putin, others. And we always have to be worried regarding nuclear conflict. But the existential threat to humanity is the climate,” Biden said, using the acronym SOB, which means son of a bitch (for son of a b**ch)..
In response to Biden’s comments, the Kremlin on Thursday called them a “huge embarrassment” for the United States.
Biden also criticized former President Donald Trump’s comments comparing his legal troubles to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. The president paraphrased his predecessor’s comments before telling attendees that “if I was here 10 or 15 years ago and said all this, you would all think I should be compromised.”
“He is comparing himself to Navalny and saying that since our country has become a communist country, he was persecuted, just like Navalny was persecuted. Where the hell is this coming from?” Biden declared, according to journalists present at room. “If I was here 10 or 15 years ago and said all this, you would all think I should be engaged… It’s amazing.”
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
In stark contrast to Biden and other Western leaders, Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential election, has yet to condemn Russia or Putin for Navalny’s death.
In recent weeks, Trump has also indicated several times that he would not defend a NATO country from a Russian attack if the country does not meet defense spending guidelines – a comment that Biden criticized as an “admission that he has the intention to give Putin the green light for more war and violence.
Trump “is making it clear that he will abandon our NATO allies,” Biden added following the former president’s comments earlier this month.
When asked by a journalist from the state broadcaster Russia 1 regarding the US president’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I can say that it is unlikely that such rude statements by the US head of state would be unacceptable.” “The US somehow offends the head of another country, especially President Putin, but this is a huge shame for the country, I mean the United States of America.”
“Therefore, if the president of such a country uses such language, it should be shameful,” he added.
“Clearly, Mr. Biden is demonstrating Hollywood cowboy-style behavior to satisfy domestic political interests.”
Biden was introduced at Wednesday’s fundraiser by venture capitalist John Doerr, according to the White House. Biden spoke for 16 minutes, according to the press team, and thanked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who attended the event.
“I think she is the best speaker of the House of Representatives there has ever been. Thank God she has almost always been on our side,” Biden said, according to reporters in the room.
At a second fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, Biden sought to draw further contrast with his predecessor, telling attendees that nine heads of state had told him, “You have to win” in November.
“When I leave meetings, some head of state finds an excuse to come up to me… and say: ‘You have to win’. Not because I’m so special. You have to win because my democracy is at stake if the other person wins.’ Nine heads of state have done that to me,” Biden said, the journalists noted.
“Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. This alternative is a different breed of cat,” he said, according to the press team. Pelosi then interrupted the president, saying, “Don’t say that regarding cats,” to laughter from the crowd.
The president is expected to participate in another campaign event on Thursday in Los Altos Hills, California, before returning to the White House in the evening.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Kaanita Iyer and Anna Chernova contributed to this report.
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