President Joseph Biden made a point of identifying Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “rational actor'’ in his 15-minute interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Tuesday evening, Oct. 11. At the same time, Biden insisted that Putin’s purported threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine – something that Putin has never said – risked triggering Armageddon through miscalculation.
Biden had to correct Tapper twice, as the latter tried to get Biden to say that Putin was irrational or insane. Biden carefully phrased his correction: Putin is “a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly.” Tapper then referenced Biden’s “Armageddon” comment from Oct. 6, and asked whether Putin would resort to a tactical nuclear assault. Biden: “I don’t think he will.”
Biden then proceeded to launch into his recasting of the “Armageddon” discussion, with the tightly embedded false assumption that Putin has been talking about a tactical nuclear attack. “I think it’s irresponsible for him to talk about it, the idea that a world leader of one of the largest nuclear powers in the world says he may use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine.” Biden explained that Putin’s threats themselves have a destabilizing effect:
“The whole point I was making was it could lead to just a horrible outcome. And not because anybody intends to turn it into a world war or anything, but just once you use a nuclear weapon, the mistakes that can be made, the miscalculations, who knows what would happen.… He, in fact, cannot continue with impunity to talk about the use of a tactical nuclear weapon as if that’s a rational thing to do. The mistakes get made. And the miscalculation could occur, no one can be sure what would happen and could end in Armageddon.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in direct response to Biden’s interview, chose to harshly condemn the West’s “nuclear rhetoric.” Russia deplores “every day that Western heads of state—the U.S. as well as European—practice nuclear rhetoric….” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took a more ironic approach: Biden’s choice of “rational actor” was a significant change in rhetoric from his reckless comments earlier, such as “killer,” “pure thug,” “murderous dictator” and “war criminal.”
