President Joe Biden said on Monday he doesn't regret saying Russian President Vladimir Putin shouldn't remain in power -- but he emphasized that his words did not signal a policy change.
The Biden administration sought to walk back the president's statement over the weekend when he said, "For God's sake, [Putin] cannot remain in power," as they feared it would lead Putin to conclude the United States' goal was now to enact regime change in Russia.
When asked about this on Monday, however, Biden explained why he said what he did about Putin.
"I'm not walking anything back," Biden said. "The fact of the matter is, I was expressing moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing... the actions of this man, just brutality. Half the children of Ukraine, I had just come from being with those families."
Biden then pivoted to saying that American policy toward Russian leadership had not changed.
"But I want to make it clear, I wasn't then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change," he said. "I was expressing moral outrage I feel and I make no apologies."
Watch the video below.
Biden: I\u2019m not walking anything back\u2026 I wasn\u2019t articulating a policy change.pic.twitter.com/94RVSgRbA8— Acyn (@Acyn) 1648494831
