Biden's "I'm going to get in trouble" moment at G7 press conference

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool

Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud again. This time he did it on the world stage as the G7 summit in England wrapped up. The President of the United States admitted his staff leads him around by his nose or some other body part. As he began to take questions from reporters during a press conference, he began, “I’m sorry, I’m going to get in trouble with staff if I don’t do this the right way.” Then he took a look at his notes to call on a specific reporter.

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Who’s in charge? This is a question that is frequently asked during the Biden administration and for good reason. It is cringeworthy enough when Biden utters these words during encounters with the press at home, but this was abroad with the world tuning in to hear what the leader of the free world had to say at the end of the G7 summit. What he told reporters is that he follows orders from his staff.

The press coverage of Biden’s first trip overseas as president has been exactly what you would expect. Biden is a Democrat, their guy, and not the bad Orange Man who wouldn’t play nice during these summits. Joe Biden is more interested in courting friendships with the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan than bringing up anything that might prove uncomfortable. He is the ultimate status quo kind of guy. During his almost 50 years in elected office, Biden has no record of leading on any particular issue or piece of legacy legislation. He’s a follower, not a leader. As president, he manifests this weakness in memorizing whatever the talking point of the day is on whichever topic is in the headlines and he repeats them over and over again. He’s currently fond of saying that climate change poses the greatest danger to the world, as he did when he arrived in England. Grandpa is talking about the weather again, as a friend pointed out. Who writes his talking points, anyway? His teenage grandchildren?

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Nonetheless, the press persists. They play along and hang on his every word in order to write about his presidency in flowery language and puff pieces. What flavor of ice cream did you order, Mr. President?

President Biden on Sunday sounded a triumphant note at the conclusion of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in the United Kingdom, declaring “America is back at the table” while making thinly veiled swipes at the foreign policy of former President Trump.

“The lack of participation in the past and full engagement was noticed significantly, not only by the leaders of those countries but by the people in the G-7 countries. America is back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values,” Biden said in opening remarks at a press conference before departing for London to meet with Queen Elizabeth II.

Biden pointed to U.S. commitments to fight the coronavirus pandemic and climate change and its loyalty to NATO allies and others in implicit and at times explicit rebukes of Trump’s foreign policy.

President Unity not only regularly dings the past administration at home, but he is also doing it overseas. President Return to Normal must have forgotten the unspoken rule of presidents – that politics end at the water’s edge. Past presidents were more careful to at least appear to be united with the American people as a whole, not just their own party. Clearly, Biden’s staff has no intention of writing unifying statements for him to read, regardless of location.

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“I felt a genuine sense of enthusiasm that America was back at the table and fully, fully engaged,” Biden said.

“Bottom line is I think we’ve made some progress in reestablishing American credibility among our closest friends and our values,” he added.

Biden knocked Trump when he said the U.S. does not view NATO “as a sort of protection racket,” but as critical for domestic security. Trump repeatedly chastised NATO allies for failing to pay more to the alliance and reportedly wanted to leave the alliance, questioning its usefulness.

Say what he wants, the fact is that Trump did criticize NATO, especially when it came to nations paying their dues, and Trump accomplished that. Nations began making good on their monetary pledges which even the secretary-general of NATO, former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg confirmed. He praised Trump’s leadership on the issue.

At the end of the press conference, a reporter shouted an additional question to the president as he began to take his exit. “When you are having these conversations with European allies, who are very concerned about these sanctions, how do you justify that and what are your plans…”. Biden leaned close to to the microphone and said in his is creepy whispery voice, “120 days, give me a break.” More cringe. The president is counting his days in office as though he is a prisoner awaiting his release. He brushed off the question as though his length of time in office is relevant. He and his administration like to boast about alleged accomplishments during their short time in office.

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We do ponder who exactly is in charge at the White House. There was the weird photo released by Jill Biden’s Twitter account showing her sitting at the president’s desk on Air Force One en route to the summit. Are we being told she is running the show? Who cares if she thumbs through a briefing book? I assume she did, as that is common for first ladies to do before overseas trips.

The Washington Post is likewise complimentary. Everyone, including Biden, is trying hard to convince us that he accomplished something during the summit. The other leaders followed Biden’s lead, you know.

President Biden and the Group of Seven leaders wrapped up their summit Sunday in Cornwall, England, adopting Biden’s vow to “build back better” and promising to end the coronavirus pandemic and combat climate change.

Right. Any comments from Boris Johnson from whom Biden’s “build back better” slogan was plagiarized, according to the RNC?

I’ll end with this tweet showing Biden looking rather lost and then being rescued by Jill as she leads him away from the press. Jill’s in charge.

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