“Irritable Joe” and “War Criminal Vlad”

Joe Biden lashed out at Putin on Thursday, calling him a war criminal, murderer, and thug, among other things. Whether you agree with this assessment of the Russian president or not, it’s hardly a diplomatic or peace-seeking move the way that Democrats like to portray Biden.

The Kremlin was quick to respond, apparently knowing Biden as well as we did, considering their description of him hit the nail right on the head.

From The Hill, In a St. Patrick’s Day address Thursday, Biden said countries were “standing together against a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the “personal insults” on Friday during a conference call:
“Given Mr. Biden’s irritability, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness … which ultimately leads to aggressive statements, we probably will not give any sharp assessments so as not to cause more aggression,” Peskov stated.

When Russia is able to take the high road right after invading another sovereign nation, you know that you should have kept your mouth shut, Joe.

Regardless, in labeling Putin as a war criminal for his actions in Ukraine, Biden seems as though he may be attempting to open a case for trying Putin in an international court in the event of a regime change.

As for the regime change itself, given how long Putin has been in power in Russia, it is a very distant possible outcome—although, in the past, referring to foreign leaders as “war criminals” generally has meant that the US intends to work in that direction such as with Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The US has spent more than $1 billion on aid and arms for Ukraine, and the inflammatory rhetoric by Biden only serves to antagonize Putin further.