OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden is not talking about what the United States will do if Russia deploys a nuclear weapon in its war with Ukraine.
In an interview with Scott Pelley on the CBS News show “60 Minutes” set to air on Sunday, the president was asked about the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in Ukraine.
“As Ukraine succeeds on the battlefield, Vladimir Putin is becoming embarrassed and pushed into a corner. And I wonder, Mr. President, what you would say to him if he is considering using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons,” the host said.
“Don’t! Don’t! Don’t! It would change the face of war unlike anything since World War Two,” the president said.
“And the consequences of that would be what? What would the U.S. response be?” the host said.
“You think I would tell you if I knew exactly what it would be? Of course I’m not going to tell you. It’ll be consequential. They’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been. And depending on the extent of what they do, will determine what response will occur,” the president said.
"Don't. Don't. Don't. You will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II," is what President Joe Biden says he would tell President Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader is contemplating the use of tactical nuclear or chemical weapons. Sunday, on 60 Minutes. pic.twitter.com/8xxaDnYcqj
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 16, 2022
President Joe Biden marked the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States by taking a swipe at his political opponents.
He spoke in front of the Pentagon where he said Americans “owe it” to the victims of 9/11 to defend democracy weeks after he labeled “MAGA Republicans” a threat to democracy.
“It’s not enough to gather and remember each September 11th those we lost more than two decades ago,” Biden said in his remarks. “Because on this day, it is not about the past, it’s about the future,” the president said, The Daily Mail reported.
“We have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility to defend, preserve and protect our democracy,” he said. “The very democracy that defends the right to freedom that those terrorists on 9/11 sought to bury in the burning fire and smoke and ash. And that takes a commitment on the part of all of us.”
“American democracy depends on the habits of the heart of we the people,” he said in the rain. “It’s not enough to stand up for democracy once a year, or every now and then – something we have to do every single day.”
“This is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for each and every American. And our devotion to this country – to the principles and the bodies – to our democracy – that is who we owe those remembered today,” the president said.
“That is what we owe one another. And that is what we owe future generations of Americans to come,” he said.
“’I have no doubt we will do this,” he said. “We will meet this significant responsibility. We’ll secure our democracy together – as one American, the United States of America.’
Using the anniversary of 9/11 to swipe at political opponents is loathsome enough, but to do it weeks after you labeled fellow Americans a threat to democracy makes it worse.
“We must be honest with each other and with ourselves,” Biden said during the speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with a pair of U.S. Marines in the background. “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
“MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution,” he claimed without context or explanation. “They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.”
“And they’re working right now, as I speak in state after state, to give the power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election-deniers to undermine democracy itself,” Biden continued.
“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards. Backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country,” the president said.
And yet, the Democratic Party and its super PACs have been working behind the scenes to fund so-called ‘MAGA’ candidates during GOP primaries for months, Fox News reported, to the tune of around $46 million — likely because the party believes those candidates will be easier for Democrats to beat in November.
