In the midst of Russia's ongoing attacks against Ukraine, the liberal lapdogs within the mainstream media are dutifully sniping at Biden's critics rather than talking about how Biden has opposed NATO membership for Ukraine in the past or covering Biden's weak and ineffective foreign policy.
One such target is Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), chair of the House Republican Conference, who drew the fire of ABC News' Jon Karl for her statement calling out Putin for invading Ukraine and criticizing the Biden administration for the weakness it has projected on the world stage. Here's the statement Stefanik issued on Thursday:
After just one year of a weak, feckless, and unfit President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief, the world is less safe. Rather than peace through strength, we are witnessing Joe Biden’s foreign policy of war through weakness. For the past year, our adversaries around the world have been assessing and measuring Joe Biden’s leadership on the world stage, and he has abysmally failed on every metric. From kinetic and deadly attacks on our allies and partners, to the catastrophic withdrawal and surrender in Afghanistan, to the cyber attacks impeding American industry and infrastructure, to today’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden and his Administration have failed America and the world.
I join the American people in praying for the safety of innocent Ukrainians as they endure an unwarranted and unjustified invasion by a gutless, bloodthirsty, authoritarian dictator. Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and deranged thug. We must stand with democracies under assault.
If peace is to prevail, the United States and NATO must respond with the only language Putin understands - strength. It’s long past time President Biden take swift and devastating action to cripple the Russian economy and impose severe irrecoverable consequences on the corrupt regime of Vladimir Putin.
Nothing in the statement is incorrect. Biden's weak leadership has made the world less safe. While The Associated Press and other outlets claim Afghanistan is "safer" under Taliban terrorist control, the reality is anything but. Ask any Ukrainian today whether their world is safer now than it was under Trump and the answer is easy to guess.
Stefanik is right to call out the power vacuum created by a stumbling U.S. foreign policy as Biden's weakness has allowed Russia, China, Iran, and other bad actors on the world stage to claim more power for themselves and their nefarious activities while landing not insignificant hits on infrastructure at home and American troops abroad. Stefanik is also right to ask for prayers on behalf of the Ukrainian people and call out Russia for its "unwarranted and unjustified invasion" and slam Putin as the "gutless, bloodthirsty, authoritarian dictator" he is.
In response and somewhat inexplicably, Jon Karl tweeted that Stefanik "spends more time attacking the American president than Vladimir Putin."
In the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the number three Republican in the House puts out a statement that spends more time attacking the American president than Vladimir Putin. https://t.co/ah0wIccwM7
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) February 24, 2022
What part of Stefanik calling Putin a "war criminal and deranged thug" didn't communicate to Karl that she's not a Putin super-fan? Of course, Joe Biden has enjoyed the privilege that comes with having mainstream media on his side a majority of the time, and this is a prime example of how the Biden administration's media lapdogs help cover for his missteps while attacking conservatives.
What's more, and as Karl surely knows but omitted from his attack, Stefanik has been continuously vocal in her opposition to Putin and has urged President Biden to stand up to Putin at every turn leading up to this week's invasion of Ukraine. Biden didn't listen and pressed ahead with his policies that allowed the Nord Stream II pipeline project to move forward, further strengthening Putin's hold over European energy. Stefanik called for Biden to hit Russia with sanctions — similar to the penalties Biden announced a day late on Thursday — as Putin escalated his aggression toward Ukraine. Stefanik called on Biden to stop putting a weak foot forward on the world stage in negotiations with Iran to reenter a nuclear deal, China to stop its genocide and other evil acts, and Russia to stop bullying its neighbors to show Putin that the United States means business.
But Biden did none of these things until after Russia began bombing Ukraine. His weakness invited Russia's aggression and, that fact being inconvenient to the liberal media narrative, now Jon Karl and others have decided to make the story about Republicans who were proven right about where Biden's feckless foreign policy would take the world.
Unlike Biden, Stefanik isn't backing down. "The mainstream media Democrat stenographers and Russia hoaxers want more?" she said in response to Karl's feeble attempt to shift the narrative away from Biden's failures. "Just one month ago, President Biden and his Administration served as Putin and the Kremlin’s lobbyist when they lobbied against the GOP’s Russia sanctions bill!" Stefanik added.
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