OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The White House has had to correct a statement made by President Joe Biden again, and this one was very serious.
The world is on edge right now as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues and the slightest mistake could trigger a global war.
That may be a reason to keep the president from talking because the way he trips over words and routinely makes mistakes could lead to consequences. On Friday he made a major error when speaking when he mistakenly sounded like he was informing United States troops that they would be headed to Ukraine.
“You know, with the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian people have a lot of backbone, they have a lot of guts and I’m sure you’re observing it,” the president said to members of the 82nd Airborne division in Rzeszów. “And you’re gonna see when you’re there, and some of you have been there. You’re gonna see, you’re gonna see women, young people standing, standing in the middle, in front of a damn tank, just saying I’m not leaving. I’m holding my ground. They’re incredible. But they take a lot of inspiration from us.”
While speaking with U.S Army 82nd Airborne Division Members at the NATO Operations Base in the Polish City of Rzeszow about Ukrainian Citizens, U.S President Biden said," You will see when you are there, People standing in front of a damn tank, saying I'm not leaving". pic.twitter.com/HSkyVHSI7f
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 25, 2022
“And, you know, the woman who just died, the secretary of state, used to have an expression,” he said, appearing to forget the name of the late Secretary if State Madeline Albright, “She said, ‘we are the essential nation.’ It sounds like a bit of a hyperbole but the truth of the matter is you are the organizing principle around which the rest of the free world is, the free world is moving.”
The White House quickly corrected the president’s comments, telling Andrew Feinberg of The Independent that “The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position.”
UPDATE: A @WhiteHouse spokesperson tells me: "The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position."
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) March 25, 2022
But it is a wonder how the White House can say that “the president has been clear” when he just made a major gaffe.
Fact checking website Snopes rated the claim of Biden saying troops would be going to Ukraine as ”correct attribution” which means “that quoted material (speech or text) has been correctly attributed to the person who spoke or wrote it.”
That means that the president did say what was quoted.
That does not mean that the United States is actually sending troops to Ukraine, but it was one of two mistakes the president made.
Asked on Thursday what the United States would do if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine, the president said, “It would trigger a response in-kind,” US News & World Report reported.
“Whether NATO would cross,” he said. “we’d make that decision at the time.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan explained that the U.S. has “no intention” of using chemical weapons, Fox News reported.
He explained that the president meant that “we’ll respond accordingly” and that Russia would pay a “severe price.”
“We will collect the form and nature of our response based on the nature of the action Russia takes,” he said. “And we’ll do so in coordination with our allies.”
“And I won’t go beyond that other than to say the United States has no intention of using chemical weapons, period, under any circumstances,” Sullivan maintained.
Now obviously the president did not mean that the United States would use chemical weapons, but words matter when nations are on edge and this president is not the best person to be giving speeches at a time like this.
The gaffes were mocked on Twitter.
“The Russian military leadership is not talking to their US counterparts and Biden is out there talking about what our troops are going to see in Ukraine. This reckless moron is going to start world war 3,” Donald Trump Jr. said.
The Russian military leadership is not talking to their US counterparts and Biden is out there talking about what our troops are going to see in Ukraine. This reckless moron is going to start world war 3. https://t.co/AdTZer4qIz
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 25, 2022
“2 more Biden cleanups on Aisle 4 today: In Poland the President of the United States tells 82d Airborne troops they’re going to Ukraine. (They’re not) Then he says if Russia uses chemical weapons, the US will respond in kind. (We won’t) #ThisIsGettingDangerous,” author Andrew Malcom said.
2 more Biden cleanups on Aisle 4 today: In Poland the President of the United States tells 82d Airborne troops they're going to Ukraine. (They're not) Then he says if Russia uses chemical weapons, the US will respond in kind. (We won't) #ThisIsGettingDangerous
— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) March 26, 2022
“The President of the United States told troops they were going to Ukraine and the White House actually told the press that Biden’s “been clear we are not sending troops to Ukraine”. They can’t admit he’s losing his mind. Full on ministry of truth like North Korea. Embarrassing!” Republican congressional candidate Robby Starbuck said.
The President of the United States told troops they were going to Ukraine and the White House actually told the press that Biden’s "been clear we are not sending troops to Ukraine". They can’t admit he’s losing his mind. Full on ministry of truth like North Korea. Embarrassing! pic.twitter.com/D2pj0iJQQG
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 26, 2022
“Trump said plenty of ridiculous things, but I don’t remember any quite as crazy as flying to the Ukraine border and announcing that the US was at war with Russia,” journalist Michael Tracey said.
Note which "gaffes" the media regards as warranting significant umbrage. Biden maybe-possibly revealing the physical presence of US troops in Ukraine, contrary to his prior assurances that no such deployments would occur (because it'd mean WWIII) — apparently not a major "gaffe"
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 25, 2022
“Note which ‘gaffes’ the media regards as warranting significant umbrage. Biden maybe-possibly revealing the physical presence of US troops in Ukraine, contrary to his prior assurances that no such deployments would occur (because it’d mean WWIII) — apparently not a major ‘gaffe,’” he said.
