When U.S. President Joe Biden labeled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a "genocide” during an address on energy prices in Iowa, it set off a now-familiar scramble among White House aides to contain diplomatically loaded presidential rhetoric threatening to go beyond official U.S. policy.
Senior officials huddled with Biden after his speech Tuesday to discuss the comment, a dramatic reversal less than two weeks after his administration had specifically declined to endorse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s use of the term.
After the discussion, Biden strode over to reporters waiting under the wing of Air Force One to say that the remark was indeed intentional — but also acknowledge that lawyers at the State Department might feel differently.