Top Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared on Monday that Russia is “not very surprised” by the shocking announcement President Joe Biden made the day before that he would no longer seek a second term as president, insisting that the U.S. presidential election was not a “priority” for Moscow.
Powerful members of the Democrat party have reportedly spent weeks attempting to undermine the Biden candidacy after the incumbent president delivered what was widely panned as a historically poor performance in a debate against his top rival, former President Donald Trump, in June. Biden struggled to coherently detail his policy positions on multiple occasions, including claiming that the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case had “three trimesters” and at one point, confusingly exclaiming, “We finally beat Medicare!”
Anonymous White House aides attempted to explain Biden’s performance by asserting that the president was only functional between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern, prompting widespread alarm given the nature of the job of president. After weeks of pressure on the Biden family – which Biden insisted he would overcome before Sunday – the president finally announced in a letter posted to Twitter social media site that he would no longer seek reelection.
More than 14 million people voted for Biden to be the Democrat nominee in the 2024 presidential primary elections.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” the letter reportedly written by Biden read, “and while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and my country for me to stand down and to focus solely on my duties as President for the rest of my term”:
As of press time, Biden has yet to be seen in public since his announcement.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters that Russia would shy away from making the American presidential election a “priority” topic, according to a translation of his remarks on Monday by the Russian state outlet Sputnik.
“With all the understanding that we are talking about an election campaign in one of the largest countries in the world, this is still not our internal matter, this cannot be a priority topic for our agenda,” Peskov said.
He later added in response to Biden’s announcement, “The last few years of what has been happening in the United States has taught us not to be surprised by anything. So we were not very surprised.”
Following the announcement that he would step down, Biden endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to take over the nomination for the Democratic Party. Asked for the Kremlin’s stance on Harris, Peskov said that she had not worked on any significant matters regarding Russian affairs and therefore Moscow could not comment.
“Frankly speaking, I cannot recall a single contact between President Putin and Mrs. Harris,” Peskov said.
“At the moment, we cannot evaluate … the potential candidacy of Harris from the point of view of our bilateral relations, because so far no contribution of her to our bilateral relations has been noticed,” he said.
Sputnik reported that Peskov concluded on a derisive note, declaring that “nothing good can be expected” from the United States “judging by the mood that prevails in the U.S. political establishment.”
The Biden administration’s policy towards Russia has been aggressive, primarily defined by Biden ensuring that billions of dollars in American taxpayer funds flow to helping Ukraine combat the ongoing full-scale Russian invasion of its territory. Biden has on occasion jeopardized America’s otherwise friendly ties with Ukraine, however, including at a recent event where he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin.”
Zelensky, who maintained amicable relations with Biden’s predecessor, held a phone call with former President Trump on Saturday to discuss, among other things, organizing an in-person meeting in the near future.
“Ukraine will always be grateful to the United States for its help in strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror. Russian attacks on our cities and villages continue every day,” Zelensky said, announcing his conversation with Trump. “We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.”
Trump described the phone call as “very good.”
“I appreciate President Zelensky for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families,” Trump said in a post on his website, Truth Social.
Trump and his campaign reacted with scathing condemnations of Biden’s record to his announcement he would no longer pursue remaining in the White House on Sunday.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve — And never was!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement. … We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.”
Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), demanded that Biden resign the presidency in light of his decision to not run for a second term.
“If you can’t run, you can’t serve. He should resign now,” Sen. Vance asserted.
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