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Joe Biden trolled for using 'cheat sheets' when confronted about ousting Putin comment

Biden, 79, was in Poland on Saturday, March 26, when he declared that Putin 'cannot remain in power' before flying back to Washington, DC

President Joe Biden was heavily mocked after he used a printed cue card with answers to anticipated questions while facing the press about his controversial comments about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Biden, 79, was in Poland on Saturday, March 26, when he declared that Putin "cannot remain in power" before flying back to Washington, DC. When confronted about his remarks on Monday, March 28, Biden referred to a printed "cheat sheet" for answers. However, he said he made "no apologies" for his remarks -- something that was not included in his prepared responses.

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"It's more an aspiration than anything," Biden said. "He shouldn't be in power. There's no — I mean, people like this shouldn't be ruling countries, but they do. The fact is they do, but it doesn't mean I can't express my outrage about it," he said while holding the cheat sheet in his left hand. "I was talking to the Russian people. The last part of the speech was talking to the Russian people, telling them what we thought."

Meanwhile, the notes read, "[Q:] If you weren't advocating for regime change, what did you mean? Can you clarify? [A:] I was expressing the moral outrage I felt towards the actions of this man. I was not articulating a change in policy." The cheat sheet also anticipated a question about French president Emmanuel Macron's reaction, after he said on Sunday, March 27, that he wouldn't have used the U.S. President's words and instead saw his task as "achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of [Russian] troops by diplomatic means." Macron noted to local broadcaster France 3, "If we want to do that, we can't escalate in either words or actions." Acknowledging Macron's words, Biden's notes read, "[Q:] Is this now threatening to splinter unity with your NATO allies? [A:] No. NATO has never been more united."

This is barely the first time Biden has been caught using cue cards. He was frequently photographed with them on the 2020 campaign trail as well as at various media events. The Delaware Democrat has used cards to reference daily totals of Covid-19 cases, and also while fielding questions about taxes prior to his election. Biden used a number of cheat sheets during his first presidential press conference, with one that had headshots and names of reporters he was "instructed" to call on. The POTUS also relied on notes during a 2021 summit with Putin, while inspecting the Hurricane Ida damage in Louisiana, and while calling on reporters at the G20 summit in Rome. "I'll take your questions, and as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the people I'm going to call on," Biden told the press corps at the November meeting.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul slammed Biden's use of the cue cards and his controversial remarks about Putin. Paul cast doubts on Biden's mental fitness, saying the 79-year-old's remarks were becoming a threat to national security. "A lot of times when you're around somebody who's in cognitive decline, you find yourself trying to help them with a sentence, trying to help them complete it - but we shouldn't have to do that for the commander-in-chief," the Republican firebrand told Fox News. "And, it is actually a national security risk because he's sending signals that no one in their right mind would want to send to Russia at this point. We aren't trying to replace Putin in Russia. We aren't trying to have regime change. We're not sending troops into Ukraine, and we're not going to respond in kind with chemical weapons," he explained.

Meanwhile, Biden was excoriated on social media for repeatedly using cheat sheets at press events.

"Biden is not only an idiot, he is an idiot with cue cards!" one Twitter user wrote, adding, "They still don't help him. Jill, I respectfully request that you talk Joe into retiring or finding a new career. He's past his prime and not up for the job/tasks he has now."

"The WH staff gives Biden cue cards with scripted answers/statements yet still has to walk back what he says on a daily basis," someone else chimed in.

"Our @POTUS, Joe Biden is just walking around on eggshells, reading cue cards his handlers provide. If he EVER had a backbone, he can't remember where he put it," another offered.