The State Department on Thursday refused to defend Vice President Joe Biden’s Wednesday-night comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “dictator.”
Biden made the remark at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, as he criticized Donald Trump for embracing Putin and other “dictators.”
“Donald Trump with all his rhetoric would literally make us less safe,” Biden said. “We cannot elect a man who belittles our closest allies while embracing dictators like Vladimir Putin.”
The White House was reportedly walking back Biden’s remark, given that it’s not the policy of the Obama administration to call Putin a dictator, and State Department spokesman John Kirby indicated his department also has problems with Biden’s speech.
“I’m not in a position to … further characterize the vice president’s statement. I think they speak for themselves,” Kirby said. “Our focus here is much less on a title one way or the other, and more on working with Russia to try to achieve progress on very difficult issues like Syria.”
When asked directly if the department is willing to call Putin a dictator, Kirby again declined.
“I’m not going to … I’m going to let the vice president’s comments speak for themselves. I won’t qualify it.”
