'For God’s Sake, This Man Cannot Remain in Power'
Biden's bold statement in Poland debated
Perhaps, in hindsight, it's not something that he should have said.
But now that President Biden stood in the capital of Poland — the neighbor directly to the west of embattled Ukraine — and declared, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” his statement should stand for the history books.
That's a pervasive opinion by many following Biden's major address Saturday at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Soon after the president completed his historic remarks, White House officials released a statement.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” it said.
Biden is in Europe as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of the sovereign and democratic Ukraine, an all-out assault Putin launched late in February.
The Ukrainian military and people have been putting up surprisingly strong resistance to Putin's military.
Putin, however, responded by beginning to aggressively strike civilian targets including apartment buildings, and even a maternity hospital.
In the presence of Poland's president and others, Biden delivered a stirring speech, in which he said, “Be not afraid.” And with some of the greatest oration of his presidency, traced much of the history of that part of Europe.
But it was for that line near the end — “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” referring to Putin — which has grabbed all of the attention.
“As a former presidential speechwriter, I would not have done the ‘Putin cannot remain in power' line. But the White House should not walk it back either. It’s moral meaning is clear, and practical implications inescapable,” tweeted Rep Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), a speechwriter in the Clinton administration, who also served in posts in the Obama administration.
Mark Hertling, a retired US Army general who served as the commander of United States Army Europe, was sanguine over both Biden's initial declaration and the subsequent White House statement.
“In my view, the White House ‘walk-back’ was a ‘non-walk back walk back,’ if you get my drift. The President did not imply or mention ‘regime change.’ Suggesting otherwise is the very definition of hyperbole...there should have been no comment,” he tweeted.
Joe Walsh, a former congressman and “Never Trumper” Republican, praised Biden and his speech.
“Respectfully, nope. He said what needed to be said. Most people are glad he said it. Ukraine is glad he said it. He spoke for everyone in the freedom-loving world. Good on Biden. Very good. And [by the way], the only thing that will extend the war is Putin’s ego & mania,” he tweeted, countering another statement from Richard Haass, an American diplomat and longtime president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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