First a disclaimer or two: this is 100% just my opinion. I am not a foreign policy expert. I am not on the Biden team.
But I am a student of Joe Biden. I wrote a series for DKos before the election titled 100 Reasons to Vote For Joe Biden. I read every biography about Joe that I could find. I know a huge amount about him. I would say that I know more about Biden than 99% of Americans.
Biden understands foreign policy better than any president in my memory.
I don’t think Biden made the comment about Putin by mistake. I think he made it with a specific audience in mind and to make a specific point and move the dialog forward in a specific way. I think he planned it with his team. I think they left it out of the official part of the speech on purpose. I think he knew he would take a hit in the press for saying it.
That was the plan. He doesn’t care because Biden cares about the mission and the people involved and not his own press on any given day. That is who he is.
No one knows more about foreign policy than Biden. No one has more information. No one is more strategic about this.
I trust Biden. I believe that Biden did this on purpose. I believe that, in time, we will come to understand why.
My two cents.