President Joe Biden’s total inability to perform an interview without constant errors nearly caused an international scandal this week.
During an interview Sunday evening with “60 Minutes,” Biden claimed that U.S. troops would defend Taiwan if the Chinese government chose to attack it.
President Biden tells 60 Minutes that U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. However, after our interview, a White House official told us that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed. https://t.co/ANg54LifSH pic.twitter.com/V5qjoqF36T
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 19, 2022
At first, Biden took the tactful approach.
After “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley asked the president about the U.S. government’s commitment to Taiwan, Biden stood by the “One China” policy.
For decades, the U.S. has recognized the “One China” policy, which claims that the People’s Republic of China is the “sole legal Government of China.”
That being the case, historically, the U.S. has also avoided fully recognizing China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.
“We agree with what we signed onto a long time ago,” Biden said.
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“And that there’s one China policy, and Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving, we’re not encouraging their being independent … that’s their decision.”
Then, things got a bit less tactful.
Pelley followed up with a point-blank question — “But would U.S. forces defend the island [of Taiwan]?”
Biden seemed pretty clear on the answer.
“Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden said.
When asked to clarify, Biden doubled down.
According to the White House, however, Biden had made a big mistake.
Following the interview, officials told CBS News that the official U.S. position on a possible Taiwan-China conflict is “strategic ambiguity.” Essentially, U.S. forces don’t want to show their hand regarding whether or not U.S. forces would rush to Taiwan’s aid.
Obviously, it’s hard to maintain “strategic ambiguity” when the acting commander in chief is playing that hand on national television for all to see.
This is at least the fourth time White House staff have been forced to walk back Biden claiming the U.S. military would defend Taiwan. A report from The Federalist’s Helen Raleigh detailed three other such instances of Biden making this exact mistake.
Perhaps Biden should no longer be allowed to talk about U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. Or, better yet, maybe we need a new president entirely.
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