Biden Winning Applause Heading Into 1st State of the Union
But for Democrats, some say that might not be enough
President Biden's winning the first major praise for his performance that he's seen in months, as he gets ready to deliver his first official State of the Union Tuesday night.
The applause for the president is due to his handling of the US response to the bloody Russian invasion of the sovereign and democratic Ukraine.
Biden has rallied both the majority of the American people behind the Ukrainian cause — despite prominent voices on the political right just days ago openly rooting for Russia and its autocratic leader, Vladimir Putin — as well as the NATO alliance, as well.
“If Trump was President, Russia would have invaded Ukraine with US help. Thank God President Biden won,” tweeted David Weissman, a Democratic activist and writer who is also a former supporter of Donald Trump's.
Weissman tweeted his praise above that of a pop music personality known as “Kid Vicious.”
“Putin has underestimated Joe Biden and is paying the price politically & economically. Biden has put major economic sanctions on Russia and has pressured other nations throughout the world to do the same. Even Switzerland could not remain neutral,” Kid Vicious posted, referring to the steps that the historically neutral Swiss are taking to sanction Russia over Putin's lawless aggression.
Famed actor and director Rob Reiner, too, applauded Biden's efforts, using a vulgarity which has become in vogue since Ukrainian border guards used it against the crew of a Russian warship.
“The world is united behind Ukraine. President Biden has played a huge role in uniting the world. To those who would attack a United States President who is fighting to preserve Democracy, I will use my right to freedom of speech and say: Fuck You!” Reiner wrote.
Praise for Biden spread across the political spectrum.
“The administration has done a really sound job in bringing together allies and friends from around the world and present a united front against a very evil, ambitious leader of Russia,” Republican Sen Mitt Romney, of Utah, said after a briefing on the war.
Still, Biden might not find his leadership on Ukraine turn into increased popularity at home, according to Aaron David Miller, author and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“With his domestic agenda unattainable, Biden is now mainly a foreign policy president. Leading quite masterfully in Ukraine he may well find he’s furthering national interest but not benefitting from a polarizing crisis most Americans don’t understand and care much about,” Miller tweeted.
Some said that, given developments in Ukraine, other Democrats should drop off plans for their own “responses” to Biden's State of the Union.
“Taking a minute away from Ukraine to just say, any Democrat issuing a "response" to President Biden's State of the Union needs to cancel their speech(es). There is absolutely no reason for multiple speeches from Democrats,” said attorney and Democratic strategist Aaron Parnas, who has family members in Kyiv.
It just seems inherent to Democrats not to be satisfied with Biden's leadership, no matter how well he’s leading, according to one longtime political observer.
“President Biden's leadership in the Ukraine crisis has been truly impressive, we're coming out of the pandemic at last, and we have a fine Supreme Court nominee. So Democrats are carping at what hasn't been done and liberals are indulging in fatalistic navel-gazing. Naturally,” tweeted Bill Krystol, one-time chief of staff to former vice president Dan Quayle and a longtime conservative commentator.
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