Tipsheet

With Late Action on Cuba, Dems Say 'Administration Has Worked Tirelessly to Support Brave Cuban People'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 22, 2021 4:30 PM

Now that President Joe Biden is taking further action on Cuba, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) War Room is celebrating the effort with claims that the "administration has worked tirelessly to support the brave Cuban people who are peacefully protesting the decades of economic repression under Cuba’s communist regime" and that "President Biden has forcibly rebuked the communist Cuban regime and reiterated the United States’ support for the Cuban people."

Such congratulatory remarks come in an email press release from the DNC War Room as well as over Twitter.

As Katie reported, Biden on Thursday announced that there will be sanctions against the leaders of the oppressive communist regime.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) noted during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that while "I think that would be a welcome step," he also said it is not enough.

"So is it enough? No. I think there are other things that need to be done, including a diplomatic surge. We should be at the [Organization of Americans States] right now convening it, we should be pushing for the Human Rights Commission to go into Cuba and document these abuses from it. We might be able to levy additional Global Magnitsky sanctions and, ultimately, we need to provide VPN and internet access to the people of Cuba, so they can communicate with each other and with the world," he said. 

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Further, from the tone of the email, one would think that the Biden administration was making immediate and consistent statements in support of the Cuban people. This could not be further from the truth. 

While Joe Biden did call out the evils of communism, he did so last Thursday, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, when directly asked by a reporter if he agreed with an equally delayed response from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. He also condemned socialism but did not take the chance to do so at length, instead saying "I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute, but that's another story."

The protests gained worldwide attention last Sunday. 

It took the White House until Monday morning to release a formal statement.

While a statement came Sunday night over Twitter from Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung, it was condemned for its insufficiency.

Inexplicably, it took days for the White House to even just say the "C" word. Official responses instead stuck to the same line propagated by Twitter, that the Cuban people were protesting a lack of vaccines against the Wuhan coronavirus. 

The email from the DNC War Room cites reactions from Democratic consultant Sash Tirador who is quoted in a POLITICO article, as well as a Tweet from Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL). Republicans are not mentioned in the email, however.

Ensuring that the Cuban people have Internet access is a bipartisan project. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have spearheaded legislation to do just that.

As Sen. Rubio and Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) mentioned Wednesday night, Republicans were not briefed. In fact, Biden will not meet with Republicans. The comments came during a Wednesday night appearance on "Hannity" taking place in Miami:

SALAZAR: Well, I have the same message. And as I was telling you, we are very frustrated. We are very upset, because we have called respectfully. And we have told the Biden administration, this has nothing to do with political parties.

HANNITY: Can you not meet with Joe Biden? Will he not with you?

SALAZAR: He will not meet with us.

RUBIO: We've asked for meetings. It hasn't happened so far.

SALAZAR: Yeah. I am asking the White House three times --

HANNITY: That's despicable.

SALAZAR: Three times a day, Sean.

The senator has also been vocal in his support of Internet access for the Cuban people.

Sen. Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Rep. Salazar, have been consistently vocal in calling out the evils of communism and well as in their support of the Cuban people, and were among the first to do so.