Psaki jokes that Russia may have actually sanctioned Biden's late father: 'Biden is a junior'
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
- Press Secretary Jen Psaki joked that Russia may have actually sanctioned Biden's late father.
- "Biden is a junior," she said during a briefing on Tuesday, referring to the suffix in his name.
- Russia earlier sanctioned a number of prominent US officials, including Biden, his son, and Hilary Clinton
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday joked that new Russian sanctions may have actually targeted President Joe Biden's late father, and not the president himself.
Russia's Foreign Ministry announced sanctions on a group of prominent US politicians on Tuesday, including Biden, Psaki, secretary of state Antony Blinken, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Biden's legal name is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. A list published on a Russian government website omitted the junior suffix in spelling his name.
"I would first note that President Biden is a 'junior,' so they may have sanctioned his dad — may he rest in peace," Psaki told reporters during a press briefing.
"None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead," she added.
Despite the suffix mix-up, a press release from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies the sanctions targeted "President J. Biden."
Russia's actions were in response to a slew of US, UK, and EU sanctions imposed on the Russian economy, Putin, his inner circle, and other Russian oligarchs over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia said its sanctions are a response to the "extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has relied, discarding all decency, on the frontal constricting of Russia," CNN reported.
Other US officials sanctioned by Russia include Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, CIA Director William Burns, national security advisor Jake Sullivan, and deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh.