(SAN FRANCISCO) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB,” while also taking a shot at former President Donald Trump for comparing his legal woes to the persecution of Alexei Navalny who died in a Russian jail this week.
“He’s comparing himself to Navalny and saying that he – because our country has become a communist country… [is being] persecuted just like Navalny [was] persecuted,” Biden said of Trump.
“Where the hell does this come from? If I stood here 10-15 years ago you all would have thought that I should be committed,” Biden continued, adding that Trump’s comment was “astounding.”
Biden was speaking at a big-dollar fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday as part of a three-day California fundraising swing that began in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
While speaking, Biden had choice words for Putin, though he said climate change is humanity’s biggest threat, according to reporters in the room.
“We have a crazy SOB, that guy Putin, others, and we always have to be worried about a nuclear conflict. But the existential threat to humanity is climate,” Biden told a gathering of about 20 deep-pocket donors.
Biden’s remarks at the fundraiser were heavily focused on climate change and the work his administration has done to fight it.
The White House on Tuesday said that the U.S. would announce a “major sanctions” package against Russia in response to Navalny’s death, which Biden has blamed on Putin.
“Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it’s clear that President Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Trump on Monday wrote on his social media platform, in his first comments since the leading dissident’s death, “The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country.” He added that his political and legal opponents are “leading us down a path to destruction.”
The next day, Trump doubled down on the comparison in a televised town hall-style interview on Fox News.
“It’s a form of Navalny,” Trump said in reference to his legal challenges.
In recent weeks, Biden has sharpened his attacks against rival Trump as his campaign pivots to November’s general election.
“You got to prevent this other guy from being president,” Biden said of Trump at the fundraiser. “He’s made it absolutely clear everything you’ve done, everything we’ve done, he’s against.”
While making a joke about his age, “I know I don’t look it. I’m only 40. Forgive me, lord,” Biden also questioned the “moral compass” of the “MAGA Republican crowd,” saying he’s seen nothing like it, though he’s “been around a long time.”
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