President Joe Biden walked back his comments about the state of U.S. military preparedness after his remarks sparked intense backlash and generated anti-American propaganda from communist China.
During a recent interview with CNN, Biden made the inaccurate claim that the U.S. Department of Defense was running low on ammunition due to the war in Ukraine.
“The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition,” Biden said. “The ammunition, that they used to call them 155-millimeter weapons. This is a war relating to munitions, and they are running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it.”
The White House quickly issued a statement contradicting Biden’s comments.
“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,” an official statement read. “Everything we send to Ukraine is in excess of that. So, the U.S. is not running out of ammunition ourselves.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s state-run media outlet, the Global Times, seized the opportunity to propagate anti-American sentiment.
“People have long known about 🇺🇸’s ammo shortage via many news reports,” the publication tweeted. “It’s already no secret to anyone. Let’s not forget Biden only mentioned this to justify his approval of using cluster bombs that might kill more civilians in the war.”
Biden also faced objections from within the Democratic Party, including from his top presidential challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Biden seems to be saying we’re sending cluster bombs to Ukraine because we’re running out of other munitions,” Kennedy Jr. tweeted. “Looks like a pretext for even more military spending to me. The time has come to offer diplomatic alternatives to war + bring both sides to negotiating table.”
The discord within the Democratic Party has made it increasingly difficult for the Biden administration to assert its will on domestic and foreign policy. In response to the scrutiny over the President’s misstatement, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “It is a reminder that the president is always striving to be as accurate as possible in his public remarks.”
Despite the White House’s efforts towards damage control, the episode serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of President Biden’s verbal missteps and the importance of accuracy in times of diplomatic tension.
WATCH: Joe Biden broadcasts to the world that the U.S. is low on 155mm shells.
Does President Biden not care that our adversaries in communist China are listening?
pic.twitter.com/SxaI6jHo49— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 9, 2023
