President Joe Biden was a mess at the D-Day anniversary in Normandy on Thursday, as Matt highlighted earlier. Besides the signs of confusion and cognitive decline, the president addressed the war in Ukraine during his remarks. It seemed he was trying to go for a narrative about protecting "freedom" and standing up to a "dictatorship," but it still wasn't the time or place. It turns out that Biden wasn't the only one to make such a connection, as Secretary of State Antony Blnken went there as well.
While appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Blinken was asked what "a takeaway" from both our allies and enemies should be with Biden's speech. " The same resolve that the extraordinary men and women that we’re celebrating today showed then, he’s showing now," Blinken claimed in part. "Because they did what they did, we’re here today. And we not only have a responsibility to honor what they did, but the real way to honor it is to make sure that we’re good in our time, in our moment, in standing up to the challenges that we face."
Not only were his points about Biden showing "resolve" not quite believable, but he also himself brought Ukraine into it. He went on to offer that "and one of those we see now is aggression from Russia, not only against Ukraine but against the very principles at the heart of the international system that were put in place after World War II to try to make sure that we didn’t have another world war, that we maintained peace and security." Bringing it back to trying to sell Biden's supposed "resolve," Blinken also claimed that "the president’s determined to make sure we’re standing up today, just as they stood up 80 years ago."
Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken on D-Day: "The same resolve that the extraordinary men and women that we're celebrating today showed then, [Biden] is showing now" 🥴 pic.twitter.com/eG4mjwy8Au
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 6, 2024
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Could we not make D-Day about Ukraine, please? https://t.co/xnwQTJgr8u
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) June 6, 2024
Co-host Mika Brzezinski went right along with it, pointing out that Biden "reinforced the commitment to Ukraine." The conversation then turned not only to aid for Ukraine, as Blinken insisted "that aid should have gotten there a long time ago," but again went for a connection between the current war and D-Day.
"But there’s a really powerful parallel too between what we’re commemorating today and what we’re doing now. Back then, it wasn’t just the United States. Here in Normandy, 12 countries came together, 160,000 men coming to this beach, coming to start the final fight that ultimately, 11 months later, led to victory in World War II," he said. "In Ukraine, we have more than 50 countries standing up, standing together, making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself and to push back this aggression. And that’s the power of our alliances and that’s the biggest difference maker we have in the world."
Remember how Mika had asked about our enemies and allies? Blinken brought it back to our enemies as well. "Our adversaries, our competitors, they don’t have the same kind of voluntarily alliances. Yes, sometimes they coerce countries into helping them, or maybe they pay them off. Here we have country after country that volunteers to stand together, stand together in defense of principles that we share and know need defending. We’re seeing that in Ukraine; we saw that 80 years ago in Normandy," he continued.
As Matt reminded in his own coverage, the Russians also fought against the Third Reich during World War II, and they suffered the highest casualties.
It's also quite likely that Russia invaded Ukraine in the first place, doing so in late February 2022, because it was Biden who was in office. At the time, polling from Harvard CAPS-Harris showed that a majority of voters, at 62 percent, believe that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump was still president. A majority, at 59 percent, also responded that they believe Putin made such a move because he saw a weakness in President Joe Biden.
It's also particularly shameful that Biden's X account decided to pick the anniversary of D-Day to post an ad and claim "Trump doesn’t understand sacrifice. He thinks duty is a joke. And he is unfit to lead."
Overall, the world is on fire under Biden's time in office, with foreign policy one more catastrophic area, including and especially when it comes to the president's approval ratings. It's not just with Ukraine, but also with the Israel-Hamas conflict. It's no wonder that RealClearPolling shows Biden with just a 35.5 percent approval rating on foreign policy, 32.5 percent approval rating on the Israel-Hamas conflict, and had had a 40.7 percent approval rating on Russia-Ukraine.
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