Here we go again. President Joe Biden sparked outrage from critics when he let sensitive information about the U.S. military slip during a live interview.
Biden told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that the U.S. is low on 155 mm artillery ammunition rounds while attempting to defend the government's decision to send Ukraine cluster munitions as a "transition period" until more munitions are produced.
"This is a war relating to munitions. And they're running out of that ammunition, and we're low on it," Biden said. "And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians."
In response to Biden's slip-up, a White House official tried to walk back the 80-year-old's comments, claiming the U.S. is not low on ammunition.
"The military has specific requirements for the numbers of weapons systems and ammunition we maintain in our reserves in case of contingencies or military conflict," a White House official said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Everything we send to Ukraine is in excess of that. So, the U.S. is not running out of ammunition ourselves."
The White House also defended its decision to send Ukraine cluster munitions, saying they wanted to ensure the country was not "left defenseless."
"We are authorizing cluster munitions to ensure that Ukraine is not left defenseless while we wait for our own domestic production of ammunition to ramp up substantially, which we are in the process of doing, as are our allies and partners," the statement continued. "These cluster munitions are a bridge as we significantly increase production of ammunition over the coming months – and will have much higher production levels soon."
However, a firestorm of critics bashed Biden for saying the quiet part out loud, questioning his competency.
Joe Biden wasn't supposed to say the quiet part out loud: "We've run out of ammunition". But now that the cat's out of the bag, one must ask whether continued support of Ukraine's military is even feasible as the conflict rages on. pic.twitter.com/jddIrHlSM8
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 9, 2023
Joe Biden broadcasting to the world that the US is low on 155mm shells.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 8, 2023
Moron. Does Biden not care that our adversaries in China are listening? https://t.co/X8M9k617CU
love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo. https://t.co/vd0eQRh75Z
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) July 8, 2023
Even Biden's 2024 Democratic opponent criticized him.
Last year, WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the use of cluster bombs a “war crime.” Now President Biden plans to send them to Ukraine. Stop the ceaseless escalation! It is time for peace. #Kennedy24https://t.co/W1uXkQY4dW
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 8, 2023