Biden Calls Putin ‘A butcher'

US President Joe Biden has disparaged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the second time in two months, publicly calling him a “butcher” in connection with the Ukraine conflict.

Biden made the jab while speaking at a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday. He also advocated raising the average federal tax for America’s wealthiest from 8.2% to 25%, arguing that this would allow Washington to raise $400 billion over the next ten years.

“Imagine what we could do with that. We could fundamentally slash the federal deficit… We could do so many things – consequential – including finally making sure that we take care of Ukraine from that butcher Putin,” he said.

Biden also lashed out at the Russian president in late February, calling him a “crazy S.O.B." He mentioned Putin while saying that the West must be wary of a nuclear conflict, but should pay even more attention to the danger posed by climate change.

At the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that Americans should be ashamed of a leader who indulged in such comments.

“If the president of that nation uses that kind of language, that is shameful,” he said, adding that Biden may have been trying to emulate a “Hollywood cowboy” to appeal to domestic audiences.