Monday's White House press briefing was more of the usual pablum from the "experts" within the Biden administration that showed how inconsistent and therefore incoherent President Biden's foreign policy continues to be when it comes to Russia and China.
After kicking things off with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to share details of atrocities committed by Putin's forces in Ukraine, Press Secretary Jen Psaki took over. When asked about Russia's role at the United Nations, Psaki stated that the president "believes it's ludicrous for Russia to be a member of the Human Rights Council" and explained that Biden's UN ambassador would "continue to make the case in her role when she returns to New York."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Pres. Biden believes it is “ludicrous” for Russia to be part of the United Nations Human Rights Council, as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced Monday she will call for its suspension. https://t.co/ndSbDEw4ap pic.twitter.com/E5byhwVIiu
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 4, 2022
Ok, good. Russia — long before it invaded Ukraine — has been a despotic dystopia. Political opponents are imprisoned and dissidents are poisoned, and there's Putin's ongoing deprivation of basic human rights for his citizens. But if President Biden believes it's ludicrous for Russia to be a member of the UN's human rights watchdog group, what about the other giant ChiCom elephant in the room?
Well, Real Clear Politics' Philip Wegmann asked the obvious question: Does President Biden want to see China remain on the Human Rights Council given his administration determined that China is engaged in genocide against the Uyghur people?
"Our focus right now on the international stage on this question is on Russia given the invasion of Ukraine," came Psaki's response.
Psaki won't say whether or not China should remain on the UN Human Rights Council because "our focus right now...is on Russia." pic.twitter.com/KzfuiwXKiy
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 4, 2022
Oh, so Democrats can't actually walk and chew gum at the same time, or apparently focus on more than one enemy to freedom at a time? Apparently Biden would have been unable to act as Commander in Chief during World War II in which the United States and its allies waged war to defeat enemies in Europe and the Pacific.
If Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the impetus for the Biden administration to seek Putin's ouster from the Human Rights Council, why wasn't the Biden administration's determination that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a genocide enough of an action in the 14 previous months during which Putin's invasion wasn't the focus?
The Biden administration has only strengthened the relationship between Russia and China, the former waging a bloody war against Ukraine and the latter engaged in a genocide against Muslim minorities within its country. Both routinely and systematically control what information their people are allowed to access and trample human rights whenever they stray outside of what totalitarian leaders allow.
The fact that either has a role within the United Nations proves how useless that international body is, but the White House's tough-talk about Russia's seat on the UN's Human Rights Council — while brushing aside concerns about China's membership — is the height of ignorance.