Joe Biden was caught using printed notes to answer prearranged questions on Monday, after he committed a series of serious blunders regarding the war in Ukraine. Biden in the past week suggested that U.S. troops stationed in Poland would be sent to Ukraine to fight the Russians, NATO could use chemical weapons against Russia, and seemed to call for regime change in Russia. The White House was forced to walk back all of his remarks.
In Europe, Biden called for regime change in Russia, said U.S. troops were being sent to Ukraine, and suggested he would use chemical weapons against Putin.
Biden just insisted "none of the three occurred."
Here are the receipts:pic.twitter.com/N2Ih5LhOpC
— Tommy Pigott (@TommyPigott) March 28, 2022
The 79-year-old appeared to call for regime change in Russia when he said in a speech over the weekend that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
When a reporter asked a preapproved question about the remark during the presser Monday, Biden answered that he was “not walking anything back,” and glancing down at his notes, added, “the fact of the matter is I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man.” Biden then adlibbed incoherently: “Just brutality. Half the children in Ukraine. I’ve just come from being with those families, and so, uh, but I want to make it clear. I wasn’t then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change. I was expressing the moral outrage that I felt and I make no apologies for it.”
Except for his attempt to adlib, his answer closely aligned with the pre-scripted answer on the cheat sheet he was holding. The notes, captured by a photographer, read, “I was expressing the moral outrage I felt towards the actions of this man. I was not articulating a change in policy.”
Biden had to have “I was not articulating a change in policy” written verbatim on a notecard so he wouldn’t screw it up… and he still screwed it up pic.twitter.com/OvEwlHQVry
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) March 28, 2022
A Fox News reporter’s question did not appear to be preapproved by the White House.
When Peter Doocy asked Biden if he’s worried that other world leaders are going to doubt that “America is back” if the White has to keep walking back his comments, Biden seemed annoyed.
“What’s getting walked back?” he shot back indignantly.
Doocy ran through the list of Biden’s most recent gaffes.
“It made it sound like, just in the last couple days, it sounded like you told U.S. troops that they were going to Ukraine, it sounded like you said it was possible the U.S. would use a chemical weapon, & it sounded like you were calling for regime change in Russia,” he said.
Biden scoffed as Doocy asked the question, and said, “None of the three occurred.” He repeated dismissively, “None of the three!”
Doocy to Biden: "It made it sound like, just in the last couple days, sounded like you told U.S. troops that they were going to Ukraine, it sounded like you said it was possible the U.S. would use a chemical weapon, & it sounded like you were calling for regime change in Russia." pic.twitter.com/O8ZHyraFdl
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 28, 2022
This wasn’t the first time Biden has been caught using a cheat sheet to talk to media accomplices while in the White House or on the campaign trail.
During the 2020 campaign, it became very apparent that Biden’s handlers were handpicking reporters, and screening questions.
During a town hall about two weeks before the election, he pulled out notes help him answer questions about his proposed tax policies, The New York Post recalled.
Biden continued to use note cards with reporters’ names and prearranged questions for his first press conference at the White House.
Biden also utilized notes during a 2021 summit with Putin, while touring the damage of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana and while calling on reporters at the G20 summit in Rome.
“I’ll take your questions, and as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the people I’m going to call on,” Biden told the assembled media at the November forum.
In April of 2021, a triple masked Biden read from note cards during a bilateral meeting with the Japanese PM at the White House. Biden said “the United States and Japan have a big agenda ahead of us.” Staring down at his notecard, Biden added that he was “looking forward to speaking with the prime minister,” and that “our teams are tackling a shared agenda.”