WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, today released the following statement after President Joe Biden’s speech to the United Nations did not match the reality of what his leadership has produced around the globe:
“The American people expect our Presidents to go to the United Nations—a body where not only our allies but also our adversaries gather—to speak truth to power and to boldly acknowledge what is wrong in the world even when it’s the unpopular opinion among many other countries. Instead, President Biden focused on a bumper sticker foreign policy slogan of ‘intensive diplomacy’ and empty calls for international cooperation.
“Where was President Biden’s call to hold Communist China accountable for malign behavior, including the Chinese military’s growing threat against Taiwan and others, Beijing’s massive intellectual property theft, and China’s lack of transparency on COVID-19’s origins? Where was the call to halt Russia’s predatory energy policies, to call out Vladimir Putin’s domestic crackdown on Alexei Navalny and other opposition leaders, and to end Putin’s malign behavior against Europe? Where was the acknowledgment that the Biden Administration’s policies have created an unprecedented national security crisis at the Southern Border and the need for greater coordination with Central American countries? Where was the acknowledgment that the Biden Administration botched the U.S. and allied withdrawal from Afghanistan and opened a new Pandora’s Box of international terrorism? Where was the criticism of the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela? The fact that the leader of the Free World went to the United Nations and spoke of none of these things is a critically missed opportunity to demonstrate American leadership. The world needs competent, strong, and reliable American leadership now, more than ever. President Biden’s remarks today shows a reversion to press release foreign policy and leading from behind.”