Former Secretary of Defense Obama Panetta has given a new explanation for President Biden’s blunders over the weekend.
While abroad, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “can not stay in power.” Comments were later withdrawn by the White House.
“The president’s issue was that Putin was not allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power over Russia or regime change,” the White House said.
However, Biden himself defended his comments on Monday, saying he did not call for regime change despite saying Putin should not be in power.
“I’m outraged by this man ‘s behavior,” Biden said, describing the Russian president’ s behavior as “outrageous” and that his comments about him were “more ambitious than anything else.”
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA EXTRACTS PUTIN’S UNWRITTEN COMMENT ON BIDEN IN POLAND SPEECH ABOUT “CHAOS”
US President Joe Biden boardes Air Force One to fly to Warsaw, Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Jasionka, near Rzeszow, Poland, March 25, 2022. (REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein)
Leon Panetta, who served as Secretary of Defense when Biden was vice president, suggested Monday that the president comment on Putin because of his Irish heritage.
“I can understand his emotional feelings for Putin who did not stay in power. I think a lot of people would probably agree with that. But at this point in the game, you really have to keep your messages very simple and very direct, and I think “It created some confusion that was not helpful,” Panetta said in an interview with CNN’s Newsroom. And I think it overwhelmed him in the sense that he saw all the horrors that came out of it. war.”
President Biden meets Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian aid workers during a visit to the PGE Narodowy Stadium on Saturday, March 26, 2022, in Warsaw. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
“Well, you know, from a personal point of view, I understand why he said that. But at the same time, when you’re the President of the United States, you just have to be disciplined to make sure you do not make comments that need to be clarified by the White House.” , added Panetta.
Panetta was mocked on social media for citing Biden’s legacy as a means of explaining his blunder.
PANETTA ABOUT BIDEN’S OBSERVATIONS: “THE RUSSIANS WILL BE THEIR BEGINNER”
Washington Examiner executive editor Seth Mandel wrote on Twitter, “Irish empathy strikes again.”
“The new data point ‘epigenetic trauma is a basic concept of the smart man’ has just fallen,” wrote Washington Free Beacon journalist Joe Gabriel Simonson.
New Republic editor Matt Ford joked: “Our Irish-born president just can’t tame his reckless Celtic passions,” said the former Secretary of Defense.
US President Joe Biden leaves Air Force One as he arrives at Warsaw Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland on March 25, 2022. (REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein)
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