President Joe Biden, seemingly attempting to use the bully pulpit of the White House on Wednesday afternoon, delivered public remarks on his "national security supplemental request" being considered by Congress to continue funding aid to Ukraine.
"This cannot wait," Biden said of the funding before adding "it's stunning" that things have come down to the wire. Republicans, Biden accused, would be giving Putin the "greatest gift he could hope for" if more taxpayer dollars aren't given to the cause.
Saying Americans "can and should take pride" in U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, Biden warned that we would see "American troops fighting Russian troops" if Ukraine is unable to defend itself with U.S. aid and Putin advances into NATO countries.
Biden's remarks from the White House come in advance of an expected vote to advance the supplemental aid funding in the U.S. Senate, one that is jeopardized by an upper chamber fight over border security. Those who vote to kill the funding, Biden said, "history's gonna judge harshly" and their vote would be "long remembered."
Insisting that the more than $100 billion aid request is "in our overwhelming national interest," Biden accused "extreme Republicans" of "playing chicken with our national security."
Addressing border crisis concerns that have jeopardized his supplemental funding request, Biden said he "supports real solutions at the border" but insisted the current chaos is because "we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system" while claiming his administration is "willing to do significantly more" including policy changes.
Allowing millions of unvetted people to pour into the country is a massive national security threat. Republicans have offered Ukraine and Israel funding AND border security. Biden is rejecting the defense of American borders and putting citizens at risk every minute. https://t.co/RGuWukgSn0
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) December 6, 2023
Despite his administration's failure to address its failed border and immigration policies, Biden insisted "this has to be a negotiation" between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the border. In one moment entirely devoid of self-awareness, Biden said he knows "we have our divisions at home" but called to "get past them" and demanded that "petty partisan angry politics can't get in the way."
BIDEN: "Petty partisan angry politics can't get in the way of our responsibility as the leading nation in the world..."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 6, 2023
Oh, the irony. pic.twitter.com/yaNhctPt2a
Perhaps the man who declared Republican midterm voters to be enemies of democracy is not well-suited to make such a point.
Turning back to Ukraine, Biden said "the entire world is watching" and fretted that "if we don't support Ukraine, what's the rest of the world going to do?" In another moment showing a lack of self-awareness, Biden insisted that "if we walk away now, it will only embolden other would-be aggressors." Apparently, Biden still doesn't want to admit his foreign policy has failed significantly to deter aggressors, from the Taliban to Russia and Iran-backed proxies continuing to attack U.S. troops and vessels in the Middle East.
Biden added that he would be watching the Senate vote on Wednesday afternoon. "We'll know where we go from there," he said without too much optimism.
Biden's remarks come after Biden OMB Director Shalanda Young dispatched a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warning that the government is "out of money — and nearly out of time" to keep up its aggressive aid deliveries to Ukraine. "[W]ithouth congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks," Young stated. "This isn't a next year problem...[t]he time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now."