President Joe Biden continues to make accidental gaffes. Apparently, some are on purpose. Still, his administration continues to play janitor on an international stage.
The question should be asked: Who is in charge?
Is it Biden, whose word as the president is supposedly absolute and final? Or is it the administration handlers/Easter Bunny who contradict the president’s statements at every turn?
The latest adventure into absurdity came as Biden was overseas in Japan. The president was asked about China’s escalating threats toward an invasion of democratic Taiwan. Asked by a reporter whether he would order military action to defend Taiwan, Biden answered unequivocally. “Yes,” he said. “That’s the commitment we made.” The president has offered these same sentiments in the past, giving near verbatim the same answer when asked the same question at a CNN townhall in October 2021.
On both occasions, the White House communications team was forced into clean-up duty for the person who is supposed to be the leader of the free world and their boss. Biden got the memo. Asked by a journalist on Tuesday, “Mr. President, is the policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan dead?” Biden stated affirmatively, “No.” When asked to explain, he cut the reporter off again by saying, “No,” again. When pressed if he would send troops to fight China over Taiwan, Biden said, “The policy has not changed at all. I stated that when I made my statement yesterday.”
At ease, Easter Bunny. The president has been corralled once again.
The problem is that each statement Biden makes is not the product of a random rant. Instead, every one of Biden’s words serves as a signal to the world. So also do signals ensue when Biden’s words have to be corrected. If Biden doesn’t agree with the corrections, why does he tolerate his staff offering them so vociferously?
Our national press was thrown into a complete fit when the former president offered hyperbolic rhetoric concerning Iran, North Korea, or NATO. But that was Trump. It’s a different media rule book for Biden.
Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.
