Presidential gaffes are tolerable and even amusing when they relate to matters of domestic politics or culture. When a president speaks on matters of war and peace, however, there is little room for confusion. President Joe Biden lacks due appreciation for this concern.
In just a few days, Biden has made three serious, avoidable, and utterly pointless slips of the tongue in relation to the Ukraine crisis, all of which are causing substantive problems.
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Last Thursday, Biden pledged that Russia’s use of chemical weapons against Ukraine would result in a U.S. response “in kind.” Deterring Russia’s weapons of mass destruction escalation is critical. But Biden’s words indicated that he would regard Russia’s use of chemical weapons as grounds for U.S. military intervention in the Russia-Ukraine war. Biden’s assertion, on its face, also suggested that the United States would retaliate not just against President Vladimir Putin’s military forces but rather in kind — against Russia’s civilian population and perhaps even with outlawed chemical weapons. While the U.S. has no chemical weapons, Biden’s comment helped fuel baseless Russian conspiracy theories that the U.S. has secretly developed chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Administration officials scrambled after this to clarify that Biden had not meant what he said. But this was not even his worst slip of the tongue.
The very next day, Biden told troops with the 82nd Airborne Division that they would soon be heading into Ukraine. Describing the courage of Ukrainian civilians, the commander in chief told U.S. soldiers, “You’re going to see when you’re there.”
This inadvertent declaration of war forced another round of White House backpedaling.
Then came Biden’s worst comment. Capping off a keynote address to a crowd in Warsaw, Poland, Biden announced a U.S. regime change policy toward Russia. “For God’s sake,” he said, “this man cannot remain in power.” This comment is a disaster. There is an enormous risk when telling the nation with the world’s largest nuclear warhead stockpile that the U.S. seeks to remove its leader.
The unmistakable clarity of Biden’s comments forced even the president’s most loyal supporters into such intense acrobatics of justification that there might be some lasting injuries. A White House official tried to clean up the mess, telling the media that “the president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change.” You have to admire the effort given their account is very far from what Biden actually said.
Unfortunately, there is nothing particularly funny about any of this.
Foreign leaders, especially adversaries, pay extremely close attention to what any U.S. president says for insights into his or her plans. Biden’s comments on foreign affairs are skating up to and beyond the dividing line between peace and war. At best, Biden’s warnings must now come with a subject to subsequent White House staff clarification caveat. At worst, Biden risks being ignored when he actually desires to establish a red line or a new policy position — or else being believed when he is actually just popping off unintentionally.
What is North Korea to make of Biden’s words if and when it fires a ballistic missile into the waters off Guam? What is China to make of Biden’s words if and when it masses forces near Taiwan? What is Russia to make of Biden’s words now?
Put simply, Biden needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut, except when he is expressing exactly what ¨his administration intends to back up with action. If that means reading strictly from a teleprompter, so be it.
When Biden was a senator and vice president, his gaffes could be laughed off. As president, Biden’s rhetorical afflictions are becoming downright dangerous.
