Biden calls Putin a `crazy S.O.B.' while the Kremlin calls president a `cowboy'
President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, a “crazy S.O.B.” during an evening fundraiser in California, which the Kremlin dismissed as “Hollywood cowboy-style behavior.”
“We have a crazy S.O.B. like that guy Putin, and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict,” Biden told a crowd of donors in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
Biden's comments drew the ire of Moscow, resulting in a blunt tit-for-tat.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesper- son, accused Biden of performing for his domestic audience.
“It is clear that Mr. Biden is demon- strating Hollywood cowboy-style behavior to serve domestic political interests,” Peskov said.
In a television interview, Putin said he thought he knew why Biden had lashed out. The Russian president had said last week that it was in Russia's interest for Biden to win a second term — a statement seen by some as a roundabout way of saddling Biden with the endorsement of one of America's biggest adversaries.
Putin said he believed Biden's remark was a result of that endorsement.
“He cannot say, `Volodya, good boy. Thank you. You helped me a lot.' We understand what is happening with internal politics in the U.S.,” Putin said, using a nickname for Vladimir.
In California, Biden also slammed former President Donald Trump for comparing his legal troubles to the death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader.
“If I stood here 10 to 15 years ago and said all this, you'd all think I should be committed,” Biden said. He added that Trump has been terrible for the Republican Party.
“A lot of Republicans I disagree with, but they've been decent women and men. They at least had an American moral center. That seems to be lost with some of the things this fellow has been saying,” Biden said of Trump.
“Like he's comparing himself to Navalny and saying that because our country has become a communist country that he's being persecuted like Navalny was persecuted. I mean, where the hell did this come from?”
Trump has displayed a notable affinity for Putin over the years. He declared recently that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that he deemed to be in arrears with NATO.
Biden has been openly critical of Putin. Last week, he blamed “Putin and his thugs” for Navalny's death. He has also called Putin a “butcher,” and after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said, “For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.”