Biden's gaffes becoming 'national security risk,' Rand Paul says
France's Macron warned against escalation after Biden called Putin a 'butcher' who 'cannot remain in power'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden's latest off-script comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin are potentially risky for the United States, Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul said Monday.
At a press conference earlier Monday, Biden said he stood by his comment over the weekend that Putin "cannot remain in power" and claimed it was not an official U.S. policy change in favor of removing the dictator from power.
On "Jesse Watters Primetime", Paul warned that Biden's increasingly sensitive gaffes are not going over well internationally. Host Jesse Watters pointed out that the French government has already criticized Biden.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I wouldn't use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin," President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday on French television. "We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without escalation -- that's the objective."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan, Armenia. (Shutterstock)
Paul said he and most of the Congress are not trying to oust Putin, who has been in the positions of power, either as prime minister or president, since 1999.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"A lot of times when you're around somebody who's in cognitive decline, you find yourself trying to help them with a sentence, trying to help them complete it… but we shouldn't have to do that for the commander-in-chief," he said.
"And, it is actually a national security risk because he's sending signals that no one in their right mind would want to send to Russia at this point. We aren't trying to replace Putin in Russia. We aren't trying to have regime change. We're not sending troops into Ukraine, and we're not going to respond in kind with chemical weapons," the Kentucky senator added, referencing the other two statements Biden made in Poland that the White House hastily clarified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron wave. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Paul went on to claim Biden "lives in an alternate universe" where it is acceptable for him to say one thing, then claim the way the public perceived that particular statement is not true.
"So I guess you're supposed to look the other way. But even the left-wing media is noticing these gaffes," Paul said.
"So I do think that it is a real problem, and there's a humorous angle to this. But it's really not funny because we're worried about what he's saying, precipitating or escalating the conflict in Ukraine into a world war. That's very serious."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.