Another Biden foreign policy disaster demands American resolve

Published 10:35 am Tuesday, October 18, 2022

BY SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN

For nearly two years, the American people have watched countless atrocities unfold around the world, discouraged and horrified by both the absence of human decency and the total lack of American leadership. Our chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left thirteen U.S. service members dead, and thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians have died at Putin’s hands. Meanwhile, North Korea is launching missiles at our allies; Iran is publicly brutalizing women even as they tempt U.S. officials with a new and disastrous nuclear deal, and Communist China is inching ever closer toward global domination. How did we get here – and so quickly? The answer is quite simple. From the moment President Biden was sworn in, he has given the New Axis of Evil free rein to scheme against the United States and our partners.

The havoc continued when Biden declared to a gathering of New York donors that we are under “direct threat of the use [of a] nuclear weapon if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going,” and facing the “prospect of Armageddon.” There is no world in which making an offhand comment of this magnitude to a room full of donors is appropriate. It is also irresponsible. The American people, already on edge, were unnerved by it – and rightfully so.

If the stakes are genuinely as high as President Biden admits, he should face the American people in a serious manner. In 1947, President Harry Truman pioneered the first televised speech from the People’s House, candidly addressing Americans in the aftermath of World War II. Since then, U.S. presidents have used TV to speak directly to the American people at pivotal moments. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy gave his undivided attention to Americans as he explained the grave risk posed by the presence of Soviet missile sites on Cuba. President Ronald Reagan sat resolutely at his desk and delivered the case for a strong national defense to deter the Soviet Union, and George W. Bush mirrored this approach in his 2003 address at the start of the Iraq War. If you go back and watch footage of these speeches, it becomes clear that each of these men understood how important it was to convince the American people that he had the situation under control. Some situations still call for deliberate words  – and discussing the likelihood of a nuclear attack is certainly one of them.

President Biden’s lack of propriety not only frightens the American people, it also emboldens Putin and other tyrants by wrongly suggesting that they might just have the upper hand. Dictators like Putin feed off of weakness, especially when it radiates from the leader of the nation they would most like to dismantle. One would think that the President of the United States, who regularly brags about his more than 50 years of foreign policy experience, would know better than to be this naive when so much is at stake. But Joe Biden has proven time and again that he will walk right into the trap.

Americans need stability from their Commander-In-Chief. They want to know that he is doing everything in his power to keep them safe and promote peace. President Biden’s decision to use sensitive information to pique the interest of his wealthy supporters should tell us one thing: his priority isn’t putting America first; it’s putting Joe Biden and his agenda first. These are not simple miscalculations or differences in opinion. The sooner we recognize that fact and demand strong leadership, the safer America will be.