Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin ‘crazy SOB’ and hits at Donald Trump on Alexey Navalny remarks

“It astounds me the things that are being said,” Biden said. “I mean, if I stood here 10, 15 years ago and said any of this, you’d all think I should be committed.”

Biden is on a three-day tour of the West Coast that has included fundraisers in Southern and Northern California, events that will add to the $130 million that his campaign had amassed as of the end of January.

In a Fox News town hall on Tuesday night, Trump compared his legal troubles to Navalny’s fate, calling the Russian opposition leader’s death a “very sad situation” and asserting that his four criminal indictments are politically motivated.

The ex-president stopped short of criticising Putin in his remarks.

White House spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said there would be a “major sanctions package” against Russia to be announced on Friday, building on penalties against Putin’s regime following Navalny’s death and as the invasion of Ukraine enters its third year.

Approval of further aid to Ukraine for the war with Russia remains mired in partisan debates on Capitol Hill, with House lawmakers on recess this week.

Biden is scheduled to attend two fundraisers Wednesday. Twilio Inc. co-founder John Wolthuis and Nat Simons, co-founder of the Sea Change Foundation, were among the scheduled attendees at the first event, according to a person familiar with the matter, while Gordon Getty, the son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, was on the guest list for the second.