Remember shortly after Donald Trump was elected President in 2016? The naysayers predicted Trump would say or tweet something off the cuff and inevitably end up starting World War III. He’s simply too irresponsible to be trusted as President, they said. Turns out the world was a safer and less volatile place under the previous administration compared to the current one.
Fast-forward a few years, and here’s President Joe Biden trying to address the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Speaking in Poland, Biden murmured prepared remarks, and then at times wandered off-script. Biden tends to over-emphasize and dramatize portions of his remarks and embellish them with his often inarticulate flourishes.
In this case, however, Biden may have inadvertently escalated the situation in Ukraine and produced greater strain between Russia and the United States:
Joe Biden has been a model of restraint during the most serious global crisis in nearly 60 years, and thank goodness for that. He has provided assistance to Ukraine while keeping NATO together against the possibility of a Russian attack against the alliance. He has resisted calls to engage in high-risk escalatory moves—such as a no-fly zone—while inflicting damage on the Russian economy and making clear the depth of America’s outrage at Vladimir Putin’s war of conquest.
But Biden broke his long streak of message discipline during a speech in Poland today, when he added an apparently unscripted ending: “For God’s sake, this man”—meaning Putin—“cannot remain in power.”
The sound that could not be captured by the cameras after Biden spoke was dozens of staffers slapping the palms of their hands against their forehead. Predictably, media in America and elsewhere seized on this statement as if it were some new policy or a NATO war aim and asked if the president of the United States was calling for regime change in, of all places, Moscow.
The Atlantic, which is the quote above, writes as if various media outlets and nations were mistaken or irresponsible to assume that the words coming out of President Biden’s mouth were to be taken seriously. That assumption is the Atlantic’s way of discussing this massive international blunder while trying to protect the President from himself.
If you listen to Biden’s remarks, it absolutely sounds like he’s advocating for regime change in Moscow and the removal or assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Sunday, at the first opportunity to address a national audience, various Biden administration officials did their best to de-escalate the rhetoric and correct the President:
Hours after President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear the United States does not plan to pursue regime change in Russia.
“I think the president, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” Blinken said Sunday during a press conference in Jerusalem.
“As you know, and as you have heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia, or anywhere else, for that matter,” he said.
Julianne Smith, U.S. ambassador to NATO, also reaffirmed Sunday that the U.S. is not seeking to bring Putin down from the Russian presidency.
Here’s the video of the remark via Twitter:
Joe Biden concluded his powerful speech in Warsaw, by saying Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power."
A Kremlin spokesman, responded to Biden's comment, saying: "That's not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians."
Read more: https://t.co/n0dQlLgXVK pic.twitter.com/Et1p8RfBKz
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 27, 2022
The headlines around the world consisted of things like: “Biden says Putin cannot remain in power”
What else is to be taken from this ordeal other than the plain and honest truth that Joe Biden simply cannot handle the rigors and stress of the presidency in the clutch moments. Unlike acting as a sitting Senator or even Vice President, Biden’s remarks and off-the-cuff flourishes carry far more weight than they once did, especially speaking on foreign soil addressing an ongoing war.
Had Donald Trump uttered something like this, the media would’ve gone bonkers about how Trump is literally starting World War III before our very eyes. At the moment, Biden and his inept foreign policy team are stumbling their way into escalating tensions with Russia at a time when all efforts should be made to tone down the tension and find a solution to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
As many have pointed out already, if President Trump so much as sipped water wrong, there was talk of using the 25th Amendment to remove him.
That same standard doesn’t seem to apply for a reckless president almost starting World War III:
In under 24 hours the White House has corrected Biden for remarks on a foreign trip suggesting:
1) U.S. Troops were going to Ukraine. 2) Russian President Putin should be removed from power.
The White House. Correcting the President. Who is risking WWIII. 25th Amendment NOW.? pic.twitter.com/h53YQh8c0N
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) March 26, 2022
It’s safe to say President Biden and Vice President Harris have both been disasters during their European trips trying to smooth over the Ukraine situation with NATO allies. Neither one seems prepared or able to properly lead the free world with clarity of mind or a sound vision.
Biden has proven to be far more irresponsible with foreign entanglements during his first year in office than former President Trump ever thought to be.
