A former diplomat called out the White House for rhetoric that “encourages Russia” after the reported death of a political prisoner bolstered the impression of a “weak presidency.”
(Video: NewsNation)
Friday, John Bolton, who last served as a national security adviser during the Trump administration as part of an extensive career in the federal government, joined NewsNation’s Leland Vittert to react to word that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in prison.
Specifically, the host wondered at the rhetoric from President Joe Biden’s administration and how that reflected on the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was readily held responsible for Navalny’s death.
“For years, the Kremlin harassed, poisoned, and imprisoned Aleksey Navalny,” a post from Secretary of State Antony Blinken read. “Our hearts go out to his wife and family. Navalny’s reported death in prison underscores the weakness and rot of the system Putin has built.”
“Even I can’t decipher it,” said Vittert. “Can you?”
For years, the Kremlin harassed, poisoned, and imprisoned Aleksey Navalny. Our hearts go out to his wife and family. Navalny’s reported death in prison underscores the weakness and rot of the system Putin has built.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 16, 2024
Bolton didn’t disagree with the premise that Putin was responsible for the death
“He thought he could do this without any significant, domestic Russian political consequences and he could do it without any real international consequences either,” the former adviser said. Turning to the oft-bragged about sanctions imposed by Biden to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bolton noted they “have not stopped the Russian economy…they’ve largely recovered.”
The diplomat also reminded that “the Russians have had high casualties. If they had the same calculus on the value of human life as we do they’d worry about it more. But this is the way the Russians fight.”
“So, if Biden’s rhetoric continues at this level, it encourages Russia,” asserted Bolton. “It’s part of the proof that they can commit this kind of murder and get away with it.”
Vittert went on to wonder if the tough talk from Biden would lose any perceived edge from a failure to make good on promises. This prompted the adviser to comment, “I don’t think they take him seriously now. In fact, I would argue that the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine two years ago was based, among other things, very significantly on the disastrous American and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan and on Putin’s four-plus-hour meeting with Biden in Geneva in the summer of 2021…”
Speaking broadly to the faltering foreign policy from the president that had seen unrest and rising tension in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Bolton charged “We’re deterred by the fear of a wider war.”
“I’m afraid that not only does Biden not have the credibility he started with, people have read him correctly; this is a weak presidency,” he added to his analysis.
While the former Trump official did not speak positively to a second term for the GOP leader, he added considerable shots against Biden earning the same treatment for being “wrong on so many national security matters over the years,” adding, “that it is a failure of philosophy and strategy on his part.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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