Biden says he was expressing moral outrage when saying Putin shouldn't stay in power

Biden says he was expressing moral outrage¹ when saying Putin shouldn't stay in power

　　Transcript²

　　President Biden is defending controversial remarks he made over the weekend in which he appeared to call for regime change in Russia — off-script comments that were quickly walked back by his administration.

　　"I am not walking anything back," he told reporters at the White House on Monday, after speaking about the release of his budget proposal. "I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it."

　　On Saturday, Biden capped a trip to Europe, where he met with fellow NATO leaders and delivered a forceful address in Poland about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the unity³ of Western democracies.

　　But headlines from the speech focused on an ad-libbed closing line about Russian President Vladimir Putin: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."

　　His administration quickly downplayed the remark, telling reporters that the president's comments did not signal a policy change.

　　Biden's point, a White House official stressed to NPR, "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."

　　Biden said Monday: "I just was expressing my outrage. He shouldn't remain in power — just like, you know, bad people shouldn't continue to do bad things."

　　Political fallout for Biden

　　The closing line was chalked up to another gaffe⁴ by a politician who is prone⁵ to them, an ad-libbed moment, but one with the potential to cause consternation⁶ with Western powers. The speech was about NATO unity and NATO leaders had been speaking from the same script — until Biden's remark.

　　The comment came as recent polls have found most U.S. voters doubting Biden's ability to handle the Ukraine crisis.

　　"It was a mistake, clearly," former Democratic Montana Sen. Max Baucus, a onetime U.S. ambassador to China, said on Fox News over the weekend. "He may think that personally — I think a lot of Americans think that personally — but he is the president of the United States, so he cannot say that publicly.

　　"The more the United States says things like that publicly," Baucus added, "the more it closes our potential negotiations⁸ between all the parties who are involved here, the more it corners Putin, the more Putin might get more dangerous."

　　Other Democratic strategists, however, say the criticism is overwrought. After all, majorities have also been telling pollsters that Biden needs to be stronger.

　　"Politically, I actually think the president is where most of the American people are," said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist and veteran of the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. "And I think in a moment where the president is struggling to kind of stay above water or get above water with his popularity, I think the president may be saying something off the cuff⁹ that's going to register well with most of the country."

　　But Payne cautioned that Biden has to be careful not to cut into his appeal of competence¹⁰ — an attribute that took a big hit with the U.S. withdrawal¹¹ from Afghanistan last year.

　　And he echoed Baucus in noting that Biden's comment put him in a diplomatic box.

　　"Politically, it short term may help the president," Payne said, "but I think long term, I think it complicates¹² how the administration has to approach the crisis."

　　Paul Begala, a veteran Democratic strategist and former senior adviser¹³ in the Clinton White House, cheered Biden's off-the-cuff remark.

　　He called Biden's Warsaw speech "historic" and believes it "will rank right up there" with iconic Cold War moments from presidential addresses, like when John F. Kennedy in 1963 gave his "Ich bin¹⁴ ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, and Ronald Reagan's call to Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" between West and East Germany in 1987.

　　"As for so-called gaffes," Begala said, "I think this will go down in history, like when Ronald Reagan called the Soviet¹⁵ Union the 'Evil Empire' — and the legend is his staff didn't want him to do it. He fought and he fought, and he just said it, because he thought it. And I think that's what Biden did. And I think he's probably speaking for the vast majority of people, certainly in our country, but probably around the world."

　　For U.S. voters, economic issues are No. 1

　　Still, even if the quote is received that way, domestic issues, particularly inflation, are weighing Biden down.

　　"Biden is a little more all over the map domestically," Begala said. "And I support him, of course; I'm a Democrat⁷. But I believe just as a communications matter, he has lost the thread of the threat domestically."

　　He pointed¹⁶ out that Republicans have been able to take hold of the narrative¹⁷ domestically despite voting against popular items like the expanded child tax credit or standing¹⁸ in the way of the government being able to negotiate lower prescription¹⁹ drug prices.

　　"Republicans have voted against some of the most popular domestic proposals I have ever seen," Begala said, "and they're paying no price for it. Why? The Democrats²⁰ are not making them pay a price."

　　But when it comes to how Biden is handling Putin and Ukraine, Begala thinks Biden has done a good job standing up to him.

　　"He knows Putin is evil, and he knows that weakness invites aggression²¹, and he's going to meet that evil man with steel," he said. "And I think he's been terrific on that. ... Walt Disney used to say, 'My movies are only as good as my villains²² are evil.' And I think that's true in political messaging."

　　When asked if he was ready to meet his Russian counterpart, Biden said Monday: "It depends on what he wants to talk about."

　　The two men met last met face to face in Geneva in June 2021.

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 gaffe   

n.（社交上令人不快的）失言，失态

参考例句：

• I had no idea of the gaffe which I was committing.我不清楚我犯了什么错误。
• He made an embarrassing gaffe at the convention last weekend.他在上周末的会议上出了洋相，狼狈不堪。

5 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

6 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？

10 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

15 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

20 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

22 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》