The White House on Monday emphasized that President Joe Biden was uniting Europe against Russian President Vladimir Putin behind the scenes.
“He is somebody who has been leading this effort behind the scenes for months,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during the daily briefing when asked about the president’s low public profile over the weekend even as Putin escalated his invasion into Ukraine.
The president left the White House for his home in Delaware on Friday and did not return until Monday, despite the escalating crisis in Ukraine.
Psaki noted the president attended a memorial service for the mother of the widow of his son Beau Biden on Saturday.
“That was his priority this weekend or one of his priorities this weekend,” she said, explaining why Biden did not make any public statements about the fighting in Ukraine over the weekend.
She defended Biden’s low public profile, noting he met privately with his team on Ukraine on a video conference with his national security team over the weekend.
Psaki argued that Europe’s united response against Putin was the product of Biden’s diplomatic efforts.
“All of this coordinated action did not happen by accident,” she said. “It wouldn’t have happened without the president’s efforts the president’s time he spent on diplomacy the time spent by the national security team.”
The last time Biden delivered a public speech on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was on Thursday.
But Psaki argued that Biden had been preparing European allies for the invasion for weeks prior to the actual invasion.
“We would not be here had the president not been leading this effort around the world for months,” she said.