Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, called Joe Biden a “mad” disgrace to the United States on Friday and said the U.S. president had no right to compare himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Biden opened his State of the Union address on Thursday with a reference to a 1941 speech to Congress in which Roosevelt said the union faced an unprecedented turning point in history.
Biden also accused Republican rival Donald Trump of kowtowing to Russia and, just over two weeks after calling Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB”, said he had a message for the Russian President on Ukraine: “We will not walk away.”
“Even though Roosevelt was an infirm man in a wheelchair, he raised America from the Depression; Biden, on the other hand, is a mad, mentally disabled individual who set his mind on dragging humanity to hell,” Medvedev, a former president who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on X.
“Roosevelt together with allies including the U.S.S.R., was fighting for peace; yet, Biden is actively and persistently trying to start WWIII.”
“Roosevelt was fighting against fascists, but Biden is fighting for them,” Medvedev wrote in English. “He is the United States’ disgrace!”
Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-2012, now presents himself as an anti-Western Kremlin hawk. Diplomats say his views indicate the thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.
The war in Ukraine has triggered a deep crisis in Russia’s relations with the West, and Biden angered Russian officials with his “crazy SOB” comment. Putin, with an ironic smile, said the remark showed why the Kremlin felt Biden was a preferable future president to Trump.
Biden made that remark in a sentence about threats to the world including “that guy Putin and others,” the risk of nuclear conflict, and the existential threat to humanity from climate change.
Putin portrays the U.S. and its allies as a crumbling empire that wants to destroy Russia and steal its natural resources.
Biden says U.S. won’t walk away from Ukraine
President Joe Biden says the U.S. will continue to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“My message to President Putin who I have known for a long time is simple: we will not walk away,” Biden said in his State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress.
“If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not,” the Democrat politician said.
Biden, once again, called on Congress to authorise further U.S. aid for Ukraine.
“Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand by Ukraine and supply the weapons,” the 81-year-old said.
He said that Ukraine was not asking for U.S. soldiers and he would not send any.
The Republicans wanted the U.S. to relinquish its leading role in the world, he said.
Biden also condemned statements by his predecessor Donald Trump on the NATO defence alliance.
“It is dangerous and it is unacceptable,” he said.
Trump recently said at an election campaign appearance that he would not provide any U.S. support to NATO allies with low defence spending in the event of a Russian attack.
“We have to stand up to Putin,” Biden emphasised.
The U.S. has been considered Kiev’s most important ally over the past two years since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The U.S. government has supplied Ukraine with huge quantities of weapons and ammunition.
However, for some time now, there have been no more supplies from the U.S.
A new aid package of around 60 billion U.S. dollars for Ukraine has passed the Senate.
However, it is stuck in the second chamber, House of Representatives, where Republicans seem to be blocking it.