‘Horrendous Gaffe’: GOP Senator Shreds Biden for Ad-Libbed Remark on Putin, Begs ‘Please Mr. President, Stay on Script’

Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) panned Joe Biden over his “horrendous gaffe” where the president seemingly called for regime change in Russia.

Risch, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday and said Biden “gave a good speech” in Warsaw after his conference with NATO. Risch said the speech was marred, however, by “a horrendous gaffe right at the end of it,” and he added “I wish [Biden] would stay on script.”

Whoever wrote that speech did a good job for him, but my gosh, I wish they would keep him on script. I think most people who don’t deal in the lane of foreign relations don’t realize those nine words that he uttered would cause the kind of eruption that they did. Any time you say or even, as he did, suggest that the policy was regime change, it’s going to cause a huge problem. This administration has done everything they can to stop escalating. There’s not a whole lot more you can do to escalate than to call for regime change. The White House tried to walk it back immediately. Tony Blinken, the secretary of state, tried to walk it back immediately. I’ll walk it back right now. That is not the policy of the United States of America. Please Mr. President, stay on script.

Risch was referring to the moment of Biden’s speech where he denounced Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before saying “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The remarks prompted a lot of questions about the U.S.’ policy position toward Russia, though White House officials walked back Biden’s remarks by saying the president meant 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,” an unnamed White House official said.

Risch went on to explain the ramifications of Biden’s words while emphasizing that those ad-libbed remarks do not reflect official U.S. policy on Russia.

Watch above, via CNN.