Questioning from a CNN reporter left President Joe Biden angry after a Wednesday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked Biden why he was “so confident that Putin would change his behavior,” as Biden walked away from his post-meeting press conference.
“I’m not confident he’ll change his behavior. What the hell? What are you doing all the time?” Biden responded, as he walked back to the podium with a finger raised in the air.
“What I said was, let’s get it straight, what I said was, what will change their behavior is when the rest of the world reacts to them, and it diminishes their standing in the world. I’m not confident of anything, I’m just stating the facts,” he continued.
Collins asked why Biden viewed the meeting with Putin as “constructive,” given that the Russian autocrat “denied any involvement in cyber attacks, he downplayed human rights abuses, he even refused to say Alexei Navalny’s name.”
“If you don’t understand that, you’re in the wrong business,” Biden responded, before walking away once more.
Biden later apologized for “being such a wise guy” in his interaction with Collins.
Biden on tarmac before AF1 apologizes for “being such a wise guy” after sharp exchange w/ @kaitlancollins at end of presser
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) June 16, 2021
Biden and Putin’s Geneva, Switzerland meeting lasted for two and a half hours. The two leaders agreed to return ambassadors to their foreign posts, after they recalled them earlier this year. Putin recalled Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov in March after Biden called Putin a “killer” without a soul. (RELATED: Biden To Press Putin On JBS, Colonial Pipeline Hacking, Will Not ‘Take Options Off The Table’)
Biden recalled ambassador John Sullivan on April 20 after the United States sanctioned Russian government officials over the December 2020 SolarWinds hack.