Biden's Mixed Messages: Undermining Allies and Deepening Divides
What is going on with the man in the Oval Office? President Joe Biden’s stint in office has already been marked with gaffes, inaction on critical issues, and unsuccessfully pretending to be a unifying force.
From the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to internal rifts within the Democratic Party, he has presented himself as a “unifier” in a deeply divided nation. But do his words and actions align with his self-assigned label? Can he form a coherent front in dealing with the violence going on in the Middle East? Will he ever be able to climb a set of stairs without the nation holding its breath, while watching to see if he makes it without any problems?
Let’s take a closer look.
One of the most recent instances displaying Biden’s inconsistency on foreign policy can be seen in his approach to the current war between Israel and Hamas. At a recent fundraiser, the president responded to a question about whether Israel should delay its ground invasion into the Gaza Strip until more hostages could be released with a simple “yes.” Yet, shortly after, the White House engaged in what most would call “damage control,” claiming that the president “misheard” the question.
This would not be an issue if it was an isolated incident. But Biden is known for making comments that later have to be walked back or spun by his close friends and allies in the elite media. The president’s waffling sends mixed signals not just to Israel, but to the entire world.
But what about his claims of being a “unifier?”
When Biden first took office, he promised the nation that, unlike the Orange Man What Is Bad™, he would work to unite a nation fraught with division. Yet, earlier this year, he gave a speech against a backdrop that would make Hitler smile and proceeded to bash a large chunk of the population as “MAGA Republicans” and portrayed them as a threatening force to democracy.
Moreover, his recent recounting of comments he made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying “I don’t agree with a damn thing you say,” probably isn’t the best look given Israel’s current predicament.
Even further, at the same fundraiser, he took some cheap shots at Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who failed to become the next Speaker of the House, saying, “He just got his rear end kicked.”
The president then made the questionable comment that Hamas attacked Israel because “they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” which is, at best, highly misleading. In reality, reports revealed that one of the reasons for the attack was the fact that Saudi Arabia and Israel were engaged in negotiations to normalize diplomatic relations between the two countries. This would be an alliance that Hamas and Iran’s regime highly feared as it might upset the balance of power in the Middle East and would not benefit Tehran and radical Islamist groups.
However, statements by some senior Iranian officials and leaders of the Palestinian resistance groups indicate that one of the aims of the attack was to thwart the U.S.-Saudi-Israel initiative to expand Saudi-Israeli normalization, implement the Saudi solution to the Palestinian issue, and grant legitimacy to a Saudi nuclear program. This is because this joint initiative would cause strategic damage to Iran and to the resistance axis that it leads.
This rationale for the attack, as presented by senior Iranian officials and by officials from the Iranian proxy groups Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), strengthen the claim that Iran had a hand in the October 7 attack against Israel and that its proxies are operating on its behalf in order to advance its interests and its goal of destroying Israel.
Combined with the numerous gaffes and ineptitude, Biden’s presidency just isn’t cutting it. Perhaps this is why Democrats do not want him to seek a second term in the White House and why his voter enthusiasm numbers are in the toilet. Unfortunately, the Democratic establishment has decided, and Biden will be their standard-bearer going forward.
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