“You are not doing the right job” … The American president gets angry with a journalist



Joe Biden’s press conference after his meeting with Vladimir Poutin in Geneva, June 16, 2021. – AFP

Donald Trump has been criticized a lot for his anger and his condescending tone at a press conference. After meeting Vladimir Poutine on Wednesday, Joe Biden fell in the same ways, getting angry, his finger raised, against a CNN journalist who had just asked him a perfectly legitimate question. Before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, the US president apologized for his “dry tone”.

Press conference ends – Joe Biden just stepped off the podium. “Why are you persuaded that he [Vladimir Poutine] will change his behavior? “, Asks CNN journalist Kate Collins. The American president turns around and raises his voice: “I never said I was convinced of it. What I said was, ‘What will change his behavior is if the rest of the world reacts and decreases their influence in the world. I’m not sure of anything, ”storms Biden, his finger raised. The journalist insists, recalls that Putin has denied being behind the cyber attacks and downplays human rights abuses. “How was it a constructive meeting? She asks the tenant of the White House. Who responds curtly, “If you don’t understand that, you’re not doing the right job.” “

Putin warned about cyber attacks

Before this clash, Joe Biden estimated that the tone of his first summit with his Russian counterpart was “positive”, but assured to have warned him against any interference in the American elections. “I made it clear that we would not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections, and that we would respond.” “I think the last thing he wants now is a Cold War” with the United States, he added.

The American president insisted on cyber attacks, a strong point of contention with Russia, and indicated that he had explained to Putin that “certain critical infrastructures should be untouchable, whether by cybernetic means or otherwise”. “I gave him a list” of 16 specific entities, “ranging from the energy sector to our water distribution systems,” he said. “I pointed out to him that we have a lot of cybernetic capacity and that he knows it,” he said. If Russia violates some “basic standards, we will respond,” he added.

Beyond the attempt to interfere in the 2016 US election for the benefit of Donald Trump, massive cyber attacks have recently annoyed Washington. SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline, JBS: so many operations attributed to Moscow or to groups of hackers based in Russia. Russia, which has always denied, accuses Washington of interfering in its affairs by supporting the opposition or by funding organizations and media critical of the Kremlin.

“Ridiculous comparisons” on human rights

During the press conference, Joe Biden also denounced “the ridiculous comparisons” of his Russian counterpart on human rights. Responding to a long rant by Putin who also gave a press conference, Biden ruled that the latter was establishing a false equivalence between a “criminal” attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6 and the peaceful protests by people deprived of it. their freedom of expression in Russia.

“It’s one thing for real criminals to cross the cordon, force their way into the Capitol, kill a police officer and be held accountable, it’s quite another for people to protest near the Capitol and say ‘ ‘You don’t let me speak freely,’ ”Joe Biden said.





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