Rep. Kinzinger says President Biden looked ‘weak’ when White House walked back Putin statements

Illinois House Representative and outspoken GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger said this week that White House staff made President Joe Biden look “weak” when they walked back and clarified his statement about Vladimir Putin not being allowed to remain in power in Warsaw last month.

Rep. Kinzinger told Newsweek he would have handled the situation differently. “I would have done that that day if I was president, because I think even if Joe Biden had not intended to say that or for it to come across as it did, you know, the White House had a decision to make, they could have, they either could make him look weak, which is what they ultimately chose to do. Or they could have said, ‘okay, well, we wish he wouldn’t have said it, but let’s just go with it,’” he continued.

The US president came under fire in March when he went off script during a speech in Warsaw and said, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The reaction was swift, and critics laid into Biden for what some called a “horrendous gaffe.” The White House quickly walked back President Biden’s remark, explaining he was not calling for regime change in Russia.

Biden has attempted to clarify his own statement, saying he was simply expressing his own “moral outrage” at Putin’s actions in Ukraine.