Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, responded to Biden’s comments with a tweet. Even though Biden had said clearly that “this man cannot remain in power,” referring to Putin, the response from the White House stated that he “was not talking about Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”
In case there’s any uncertainty, Putin heard what Joe Biden said about regime change, as Marisa Schultz reported for Fox News, according to Rebekah Koffler, a Russian-born former Defense Intelligence Agency officer. “Putin heard loud and clear a call for regime change,” she added.
This line, which was not even planned, came as a shock to more than those simply following along on Twitter. Ed Wheelan talked about this at length in a Twitter thread, adding that Biden’s statements might have significant consequences.
Many people took to Twitter to express worries about Biden’s comments and mock those who appeared to like the president’s remarks, despite his walk backs.
People were using the hashtag “25th Amendment,” “Inarticulate,” and “#DementiaJoe” on Twitter this week in response to Biden’s comments, along with “World War III” and “World War 3.” People had been using such words on social media long before Biden made his off-the-cuff remarks, but truly have something to tweet about now.
During his stay in Warsaw, Biden has already raised eyebrows and generated perplexity. As Katie reported this week, he prompted many to wonder if we were sending troops to Ukraine, something he has repeatedly said he will not do. When speaking to the troops, Biden kept using the line “you’ll see when you’re there” about witnessing how ordinary Ukrainians fight to protect their country.
Biden has stated many times that there will not be boots on the ground and that the American people would reject such a move, considering they don’t want to start a direct conflict.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll published on March 16, 75 percent of Americans think the U.S. should “do whatever it can” to assist Ukraine without risking a direct battle between the United States and Russia, while 17% believe the country should be aided “even if it means risking a direct war between the United States and Russia.”
According to a study of several polls conducted by Frank Newport of Gallup, “less than half of Americans at this time are prepared to deploy troops to assist Ukraine.”
However, while gaffes may be expected of Biden, we are now talking about World War III and possibly a nuclear war, which the administration claims to want to avoid.
