A leftover from the NBC News report calling the Biden White House “adrift,” but it’s worth exploring further. For months now, the same pattern has repeated itself. Biden is sent out on the world stage, or any stage, for that matter, and makes some kind of decisive statement which stands in direct conflict with a previously stated U.S. policy.
As a result, the White House must play “cleanup” and walk back Biden’s statements to avoid a unilateral policy change or, even worse, escalating tensions with foreign adversaries.
Buried down near the bottom of the NBC News report is this gem which offers a glimpse into the day-to-day workings of this defunct and failed administration:
Beyond policy, Biden is unhappy about a pattern that has developed inside the West Wing. He makes a clear and succinct statement — only to have aides rush to explain that he actually meant something else. The so-called clean-up campaign, he has told advisers, undermines him and smothers the authenticity that fueled his rise. Worse, it feeds a Republican talking point that he’s not fully in command.
The issue came to a head when Biden ad-libbed during a speech in Poland that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” Within minutes, Biden’s aides tried to walk back his comments, saying he hadn’t called for Putin’s removal and that U.S. policy was unchanged. Biden was furious that his remarks were being seen as unreliable, arguing that he speaks genuinely and reminding his staff that he’s the one who is president.
Asked about the staff’s practice of clarifying Biden’s remarks, the official said: “We don’t say anything that the president doesn’t want us to say.”
The last paragraph is key to this. The report is that Biden gets annoyed when he says something dumb or incorrect and his advisors or aides walk it back quickly. When asked about this practice, Biden’s aides then say that they aren’t offering a correction or saying anything the President doesn’t want them to say.
The implication is that not only do White House advisors need to correct Biden’s misstatements and gaffes, but Biden is aware of the corrections before they happen.
What does this mean, exactly: “We don’t say anything the President doesn’t want us to say.”
In other words, these are advisors taking shots back at their boss, a man they probably feel they have to save from himself on a daily basis. It’s starting to sound a lot like the dysfunction and infighting that swallowed the Vice President’s office all of last year is breaking out in the open of the West Wing.
More excerpts from the NBC story. This administration is in a shambles and everyone knows it, including Joe Biden:
The president has also told aides he doesn’t think enough Democrats go on television to defend him. A particular sore spot is his slumping poll numbers; he’s mystified that his approval rating has dropped to a level approaching that of his predecessor, Donald Trump, ranked by historians as one of the worst presidents in history.
“He’s now lower than Trump, and he’s really twisted about it,” another person close to the White House said.
Biden doesn’t think aides defend him enough on television? Isn’t that the sort of thing reporters and commentators constantly criticized Trump over, only caring about how he and his administration looked on television?
Here we have Joe Biden, the “boring” President supposed to calm things down, and the country is more chaotic than ever. What’s Biden’s response? He’s not getting enough defense on television and doesn’t like that his poll numbers are dropping. Well, maybe spend your time solving problems instead of creating them, champ.
Meanwhile, inflation is at all-time highs and gas prices are unaffordable, but Biden’s mad because he says dumb things and his advisors have to correct him.
