A White House correspondent was mocked online for flattering President Joe Biden on Monday by telling him that he had “more foreign policy experience than any President who has ever held this office” before asking him a question.
The statement arose as the president answered questions following his presentation of his budget proposals. The reporter, who was described online as a PBS correspondent (but neither named nor confirmed as such) made the statement before asking about his remarks in Warsaw declaring that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power: “Whether those are your personal feelings or your feelings as President, do you understand why people would believe you, as someone commanding one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, saying someone cannot remain in power is a statement of U.S. policy?” she asked. “And also, are you concerned about propaganda use of those remarks by the Russians?”
Several pundits pointed out that there were many presidents who had more foreign policy experience than Biden:
Dwight Eisenhower served between 1943 & 1952 as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Military Governor of Germany, and NATO Supreme Commander. Some may recall this as a time of significant foreign policy events in Europe. https://t.co/4fRgSYxz1N
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) March 28, 2022
John Quincy Adams served as his father’s secretary from 1778 (HE WAS 11)-1781 in France and the Netherlands. Then he went to Russia with Francis Dana (AT 14) to serve as *his* secretary. Then he was our ambassador to the Netherlands and Russia from 1797-1801.
THEN…
1/ https://t.co/fbf55BeHJG— Jonathan Greenberg (@JGreenbergSez) March 29, 2022
George H.W. Bush had been head of CIA, ambassador to the UN, ambassador to China, and vice-president. https://t.co/OUbbgYTfsw
— Patrick Porter (@PatPorter76) March 29, 2022
Ummm Thomas Jefferson would like a word. https://t.co/IAYCS8DiJG
— Emily Domenech (@ehdomenech) March 29, 2022
The idea that Biden has more foreign policy experience than any president in history dates to the 2020 election, when it was a false canard pushed by left-wing writers in the pages of USA Today and elsewhere, on the argument that Biden joined the Senate in 1973 and had taken a role in foreign affairs legislation and oversight.
Robert Gates, who served presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama as defense secretary, famously said of Biden: “”I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
On Monday, Biden struggled to clarify his remarks, first claiming falsely that he had not walked back his Warsaw comment, then repeating it, claiming it was just a statement of “moral outrage.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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