Biden says his Putin comments were fueled by moral outrage, not a U.S. policy change.

President Biden on Monday stood by his comment that Vladimir V. Putin should not remain president of Russia, but said it was a personal expression of outrage and not a change in American policy aimed at seeking to remove Mr. Putin from office.

“I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward this man,” Mr. Biden told reporters, rejecting criticism that he misspoke. He said no one should have interpreted his comments as calling for Mr. Putin’s ouster.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said, clearly irritated at the questions during an event in which he unveiled his 2023 budget. “Nobody believes I was talking about taking down Putin. Nobody believes that.”

“I was expressing my outrage that he shouldn’t remain in power,” he said, “just like you know that bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things.” Read more

@nytimes