Biden’s Comment That Putin ‘Cannot Remain in Power’ Triggers Shock: ‘He Did Call for Regime Change’

President Joe Biden’s Saturday speech mentioning that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” is getting strong reactions on cable news, with the administration later saying his comment was not about changing regimes or overthrowing the government.

Biden said in his speech Saturday that Putin is “a dictator bent on rebuilding an empire” and that Ukraine will “never be a victory for Russia.” “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden continued.

A White House official later retracted those comments, clarifying that the president was not suggesting a regime change or overthrow of Russia. “The president’s point was 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,” the official said in an email to The Hill.

President Biden’s comments “caught a lot of people off guard,” and “raised questions” about whether there’s been a change to U.S. policy toward “removing President Putin from office,” Josh Lederman of MSNBC reacted.

Fox News’ Eric Shawn later asked on air, “Do you think in that speech that the president was calling for regime change, basically signaling the Russians and the oligarchs to push Putin out?”

Fox contributor Rebecca Grant responded to Shawn, “That was a stunning remark by Biden. I think that’s unprecedented in U.S-Russian diplomatic history. That puts U.S.-Russo relations in the deep freeze. It was a huge and stunning revelation.”

“Absolutely. He did call for regime change. Let’s see if the State Department or White House tries to walk that back later or not,” Grant added.