White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has the unenviable task of having to clean up after Joe Biden’s incoherent messes. That obviously takes up a lot of her time, since his gaffes are constant and it has to require a lot of effort to always be spinning what he says into something more sensible.

Biden did his typical confusion thing when asked a rather important question by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich: Did he think that Vladimir Putin was a war criminal? First, Biden said, “No,” but then he turned back around and said yes, “Did you ask me whether I would call… Oh, I, I think he is a war criminal.”

That flipped Russia out as our sister site Hot Air observed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the US president’s statement “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric on the part of the head of a state whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world”, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

But at least Biden was making a definitive statement, right?

Except not so much. A reporter asked Psaki what had changed such that he would say that after the Biden team had been deliberately not calling him that now for weeks? Psaki then went about some backpedaling, saying it was his personal opinion from his “heart” not a formal position, that had yet to be determined.

"The President was answering a direct question that was asked and responding to what he has seen on television."

Jen Psaki responds to President Joe Biden labelling Vladimir Putin a war criminal. https://t.co/1ysDSHOHCR pic.twitter.com/0Y0H1vC2XG

— Newsmax (@newsmax) March 16, 2022

Can we say weasel position? Because that’s what it is. Either you believe it and stick by it or you do not. Either you’re waiting for the legal position or you are not. Why do any backpedaling?

Is this because they’re about to complete the reprehensible deal with Iran which would not only free a lot of money for the bad actors in Iran and help to keep the oppressive mullahs in power, but also provide billions for Russia at the same time the Biden Administration is saying they’re cutting Russia off over the war in Ukraine? Also, how do you make a deal involving a “war criminal”? How can you justify that on top of feeding them money to make more war?

As with Biden calling Putin a killer almost exactly one year ago, his “war criminal” remark today is both accurate and insufficient if not backed up by action. Keeping Putin at the table with Iran or anywhere tells him & his cronies it’s just lip service & he’s still the boss.

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 16, 2022