President Joe Biden is facing intense backlash after revealing sensitive U.S. military secrets during an interview regarding the war in Ukraine.
Biden sparked criticism after he discussed his administration’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
“It was a very difficult decision on my part,” Biden said. “And by the way, I discussed this with our allies, I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill.”
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Biden’s decision to send cluster ammunition to Ukraine was met with criticism from his opponents, such as Robert Kennedy Jr., who urged the president to “stop the ceaseless escalation” by sending cluster munitions that Biden’s former Press Secretary Jen Psaki described as a “war crime” last year.
However, Biden’s recent statements regarding his decision to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine generated even more criticism than his original decision.
During his interview with CNN, Biden highlighted the Ukrainian people’s apparent need for additional ammunition, stating, “This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it. And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians.”
Biden’s comments quickly drew backlash on social media, as users responded in confusion and anger to the president announcing on live television to foreign adversaries that the United States has an ammunition shortage.
“Love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo,” Logan Dobson, a political operative, tweeted.
Steve Guest, a conservative commentator labeled the president a “moron,” questioning whether Biden cared that “our adversaries in China are listening.”
Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, warned that Biden’s admission on live television indicated that the war in Ukraine is “affecting US readiness to defend itself.”
“Joe Biden wasn’t supposed to say the quiet part out loud: ‘We’ve run out of ammunition.’ But now that the cat’s out of the bag, one must ask whether continued support of Ukraine’s military is even feasible as the conflict rages on,” political commentator Ian Miles Cheong stated.
Following the response to Biden’s statements on CNN, a White House official attempted to walk back the president’s comments, telling Fox News, “The military has specific requirements for the numbers of weapons systems and ammunition we maintain in our reserves in case of contingencies or military conflict. Everything we send to Ukraine is in excess of that. So, the U.S. is not running out of ammunition ourselves.”
