From the mouth of an American leader whom the world was prone to take more seriously, a comment that Putin shouldn’t be in power would have significant consequences. It’s probably a good thing that no one, from Moscow to London to Paris to Berlin, and parts beyond, cares what Biden thinks on the matter.

Not since Carter has a president been this far off on the sidelines of world affairs. And when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Biden hasn’t initiated anything, instead, he begrudgingly accepted every set of sanctions that he imposed, after initially opposing them, signed off on a “minor incursion”, and double talked on nearly everything with outbursts such as this one to make his pathetic charade seem more muscular.

With Obama there was some sense that he was initiating things and making decisions. No one believes that about Biden. And so no one cares.

Biden could announce that, “We start bombing in 5 minutes”, and everyone would shrug and check with their contacts in the administration if such a decision has actually been reached. The walkbacks aren’t even strictly needed because no one takes Biden’s statements at face value.

American presidents used to be chief executives. But Biden is viewed as the public face of a regime, incapable of reaching a meaningful decision on his own, but able to take some good photo-ops and hold the occasional joint press conference. 

Officially, Biden and Putin are expected to leave office at the same time, but Putin has a lot more options for extending his term than Biden does.