President Joe Biden made light of the potential bloody fight between Russia and Ukraine in what can only be categorized as dismissive remarks he delivered Thursday during a trip to Ohio.
Biden, who was in the Buckeye State to tout his enormously expensive $1 trillion infrastructure bill while campaigning for a House Democrat in a tight race, told his audience he had to cut the trip short and head back to Washington because of a “little thing going on in Europe.”
"The reason they tell me I've got to head out, I hadn't planned on going immediately, is because of weather going back to Washington and there's a little thing going on in Europe right now,” Biden told the chuckling crowd, downplaying what could be a bloodbath in Ukraine while seeming to indicate he was being forced to head back to the Capitol on someone else's orders.
President Biden concludes remarks in Ohio: "The reason they tell me I've got to head out, I hadn't planned on going immediately, is because of weather going back to Washington and there's a little thing going on in Europe right now." pic.twitter.com/muJ4mUkpsg
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 17, 2022
While the remarks were likely made tongue-in-cheek, the situation is far from a laughing matter. Russian troops stationed at the the Ukrainian border continue to run drills, as both the Biden administration and foreign intelligence say Russia could invade its westerly neighbor any day.
Related: Ukrainian President Calls Out Biden's 'Minor Incursion' Remark: 'There are No Minor Incursions'
Biden has already been criticized for downplaying a potential Russian invasion of democratic Ukraine as a "minor incursion" during a press conference last month, reportedly infuriating Ukrainian officials. It remains unclear what the Biden administration's next move would be should Russia in fact launch a military assault on the nation, though the administration put some 8,500 U.S. troops on "high alert" in late January for potential deployment to respond to an incursion.