Michael Morrell, who was an acting CIA Director under the Obama administration, said that Joe Biden’s recent declaration that there should be regime change in Russia – which was quickly contradicted by the White House and U.S. State Department – will strengthen Putin at home.
Yesterday Biden called for regime change in Russia, saying Putin “cannot remain in power” following his invasion of Ukraine. Today Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Biden was referring to Putin’s ability to wage war beyond its borders.
“I think his comment that Putin had to go was an unforced error,” Morrell said on CBS News on Sunday. “It strengthens Putin at home, makes it difficult for any domestic opposition to coalesce together.”
Michael Morell, former acting director of the CIA under Obama: Biden’s accidental call for regime change was an “unforced error…strengthens Putin.” pic.twitter.com/flJOoeuEHG
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 27, 2022
Morrell explained that “no Russian citizen, none, wants to be told by the leader of Russia’s main enemy about what their leadership can look like and not” and suggested Biden’s “framing” was unproductive.
“I think we should frame this narrowly, Russia out of Ukraine and impose so much pain on this man that he never thinks about doing this again,” Morrell said regarding what he believes the White House’s stance toward Putin should be.
Morrell served in the Obama administration as the deputy director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013 and was the acting director in 2011 and in from 2012 to 2013.
He warned against making it a struggle between “democracy versus autocracy,” which he said “drives the Chinese closer to the Russians and makes it difficult for some of our own allies who are autocrats to stand with us.”
It was reported that prior to launching its invasion, Russia asked China for military and economic assistance. It was not reported if the request was granted, but Russia has grown increasingly close with China since the beginning of the conflict, and has looked toward China for banking and economic solutions amid U.S.-led sanctions.
Most recently, a Chinese government official suggested the country may soon boost its imports of Russian goods. Previously, another government official called the sanctions increasingly “outrageous.”
Russia launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine last month following a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region.
Russia claims it launched the “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence, while much of the international community insist the invasion was unprovoked.
