Biden steps up rhetoric against Trump, Republicans on Russia

(CNN) — President Joe Biden is adopting inflammatory rhetoric as he calls for resistance from former President Donald Trump and Republicans on Ukraine and Russia.

The tactic, which he typically carries out at off-camera fundraisers and public events, has intensified in recent days, as the president’s refusal to approve additional aid for Ukraine by House Republicans and Donald Trump’s refusal to condemn Russia. The death of Alexei Navalny, a key critic of Vladimir Putin.

The president has turned the heat on Trump and Republicans at a series of fundraisers in California this week, places where the president tends to speak a little more freely and outspokenly.

At a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, Biden referred to Putin as a “crazy HDP” and said Trump’s comments about Navalny were surprising.

“He’s comparing himself to Navalny and saying that because our country became a communist country, he was persecuted just like Navalny,” Biden said. “Where the hell is this coming from? If I had stood here 10 or 15 years ago and said all this, you’d all think I should be institutionalized.”

The bully pulpit approach comes at a time when President Trump is eager to keep inflammatory rhetoric front and center as the 2024 race heats up. Biden has instructed his campaign team to more aggressively denounce Trump’s “insanity.”

By repeatedly attacking Trump and his party from the White House, Biden also hopes to explain what’s at stake in the upcoming election and showcase his own efforts to unite the West against Russian aggression. House Republicans have thwarted efforts to pass a bipartisan border security bill and additional aid for Ukraine at Trump’s behest.

“Look at what they’re doing with the supplemental national security bill that provides aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian people. Nothing. Not one thing. Why? Because Donald Trump tells them to do it.” Biden told donors at a private fundraiser in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

At another big-budget event in the Bay Area on Wednesday, Biden said the current crop of GOP lawmakers was “worse” than Storm Thurmond, the former Democratic senator turned Republican with staunch separatist views.

“I’ve been a senator since 1972. I’ve served with real racists. I’ve served with Strom Thurmond. I’ve served with all those people who have broken terrible race records. But guess what? These people are worse. These people Don’t believe in principles. Basic democratic principles,” Biden said.

Biden, who praised Thurmond and came under fire for citing his past working relationship with separatists in the 2020 Democratic primary, continued, “When Strom left, he did terrible things, but when he left, he had more black Americans. ” His staff than any other member of the United States Congress. He voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.”

“I don’t make it any more than that. But I mean, at least I can work with some of these people,” Biden continued. “Time and time again Republicans have shown that they are the party of anarchy and the party of division.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson responded on social media: “Disgraceful. The least popular president ever to seek re-election is now so desperate and so down in the polls that he’s playing the race card from below.” of the deck.”

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned on Thursday about the “intensification” of military ties between Russia and Iran that are helping the war against Ukraine, as he continued to press Congress for aid to Ukraine.

“Consider what Ukraine is facing. Russia is getting arms and ammunition from Iran and North Korea. We are also concerned about the support that PRC companies are providing to the Russian defense industrial base. Meanwhile, “the US House of Representatives told Ukraine is leaving to his destiny. Don’t think for a second that Vladimir Putin isn’t profiting from all of this,” Kirby told reporters.

Kirby added that the government believes Putin believes now is his “best chance to bring Ukraine to its knees.”

‘Bad’ by Trump’s comments about Putin and NATO

Biden is personally outraged that Trump did not condemn Putin for Nalwani’s death, in addition to encouraging the Russian leader to do “whatever he wants” with countries that do not comply with NATO obligations.

The president was “appalled” by Trump’s comments about NATO, an official said, and wanted to respond personally. A video recorded in the Roosevelt Room of the White House showed Biden attacking his predecessor by name, a move he usually reserves for private fundraisers and campaigns. Now more frequent from the grounds of the White House.

The shift is significant for a president who was reluctant to even mention Trump by name during the early years of his presidency.

“Trump invited Putin to invade some of our NATO allies,” Biden said earlier this month. “No other president in our history has bowed to a Russian dictator. Well, let me be as clear as I can: I never would.”

Standing beneath a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the president added: “For God’s sake, it’s stupid, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.”

A week later, Biden lashed out at Trump for a social media post in which he avoided blaming Putin for Navalny’s death and instead painted the United States as a “declining nation.”

“Why does Trump always blame the United States? Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Why can’t Trump say that?” Biden said in a White House video released Tuesday.

The president has repeatedly warned that Ukrainian troops will be severely limited on the battlefield without more ammunition and aid. The White House has blamed inaction on Congress for withdrawing troops from Ukraine’s main city of Avdiivka over the weekend, and the president has said he doesn’t believe more cities won’t fall in the coming months.

House Republicans have so far refused to advance a bill that would provide more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. The president has raised his voice by criticizing the House for taking a two-week recess while a request for supplemental national security funding is pending.

“Two weeks and they’re gone. Two weeks,” Biden said, raising his voice during an event at the White House. “What are they thinking? My God, this is strange, and it just reinforces all the anxiety and almost, I wouldn’t say panic, but real anxiety about the United States being a reliable ally. This is outrageous.”

Will the strategy work?

Even as the president carries out this pressure campaign, it’s unclear whether resistant Republicans will be swayed or whether voters will consider the foreign policy debate when they go to the polls in November.

Foreign policy is not usually at the center of a presidential campaign, often overshadowed by domestic or economic concerns. Even amid the current debate over Russia, Biden’s team does not expect foreign affairs to be a major factor in voter decision-making.

Still, Biden’s team believes the Russia issue provides a convenient point of contrast between the two men, and serves as a reminder of what President Trump will be like if he wins a second term.

Last week, the Biden campaign launched a new digital ad attacking Trump’s NATO comments, with a narrator claiming that Trump “has also given Putin and Russia the green light to attack Biden’s allies.” USA”.

The ad, part of a three-week, six-figure digital campaign, will run through Super Tuesday and will target voters in most of the battleground states: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The campaign said it aims to reach more than 2.5 million Americans who identify as Estonians, Finns, Latvians, Lithuanians, Norwegians and Poles, all NATO countries bordering Russia.

The strategy to woo voters aligned with Russia’s neighbors comes at a time when recent polls show American support for keeping NATO intact and sending more aid to Ukraine.

In a recent Quinnipiac poll, two-thirds of voters (67%) believe that NATO plays an important role in global security and want the United States to be part of the alliance.

More than half of voters, 56%, believe the United States should send more military aid to Ukraine during its war against Russia.

The same poll found that 71% of voters think it’s a “bad idea” for Trump to say he won’t protect NATO countries that don’t meet their obligations and to encourage Russia to do “whatever they want” with those countries.