The Kremlin has accused Joe Biden of trying to portray himself as a “Hollywood cowboy” after the US president referred to Vladimir Putin as “a crazy SOB” during a public fundraising event in California where he discussed the nuclear conflict threat. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Biden’s language as a feeble attempt at a “Hollywood cowboy” image, stating that such vocabulary diminishes America itself.
During a brief speech in San Francisco, Biden remarked, “We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin, and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate.” This is not the first instance of the US president using the offensive term; in a hot-mic incident in 2022, Biden referred to a Fox News journalist as a “son of a bitch.” Additionally, he has previously labeled Putin as a “butcher” and a “war criminal.”
The Kremlin spokesman remarked that such language is “unlikely to affect our president, President Putin, but it diminishes those who employ such vocabulary.” Dmitry Peskov suggested that the comment was possibly an attempt to adopt a “Hollywood cowboy” persona, though he expressed skepticism about its feasibility.
He went on to highlight that President Putin has never used crude language when addressing counterparts, emphasizing, “Has Mr. Putin ever used one crude word to address you? This has never happened. Therefore, I think that such vocabulary debases America itself.”
During his time in California, Mr. Biden directed criticism at Donald Trump, his potential opponent in the upcoming November presidential election. Trump has seemingly drawn parallels between himself and Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition activist who recently passed away in jail.
While the Republican candidate has refrained from attributing blame to Mr. Putin for Navalny’s death, Mr. Biden asserted that there can be “no doubt” regarding the Russian president’s responsibility.
“If I stood here 10 to 15 years ago and presented all this, you’d all think I should be committed,” remarked Mr. Biden.
Last week, Mr. Putin garnered attention by expressing his preference for Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump in the upcoming November election. Putin stated, “He’s more experienced, he’s predictable, he’s an old-style politician,” during an interview on Russian TV.
