Adam Kinzinger Rages at Biden’s Staff for Making Him Look ‘Weak’ on Putin Regime Change Comment: ‘I Would’ve Fired Everybody’

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said if he were in the White House, he would have fired every staffer who walked back Biden’s comments about Vladimir Putin staying in power.

Biden was in Warsaw, Poland, two weeks ago when he expressed support for the people of Ukraine. Biden called Putin a “dictator bent on rebuilding an empire.”

“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia,” he declared.

“We will have a different future — a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light, of decency and dignity, of freedom and possibilities,” Biden said before he went off script: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

The White House swiftly clarified Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia.

Days later, Biden added context to his comments while answering questions from reporters.

“I wasn’t then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change,” said the president. “I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it.”

Kinzinger, who spoke to Newsweek for an interview that was published Wednesday, said staffers who clarified the Putin comments on behalf of Biden made him appear “weak.”

“I would’ve fired everybody that clarified my statement for me,” Kinzinger told the outlet. “I would have done that that day if I was president, because I think even if Joe Biden had not intended to say that or for it to come across as it did, you know, the White House had a decision to make, they could have, they either could make him look weak, which is what they ultimately chose to do.”

“Or they could have said, ‘okay, well, we wish he wouldn’t have said it, but let’s just go with it,'” Kinzinger also said. “And we can clarify that he doesn’t mean that the United States [should] do regime change, but, you know, look, if he’s gone, he’s gone.'”