US President Joe Biden bragged about putting the AUKUS alliance together in defensive comments made during a call aimed at reassuring Democratic colleagues of his fitness to run for another term, according to media reports.
According to US broadcaster ABC News, Biden gave “rambling responses” to questions from party comrades during a call on Saturday — roughly an hour before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump — held to assuage members’ concerns about whether Biden has what it takes to win in November.
At one point, the call turned “personal” and “tense”, ABC reported, when Colorado Congressman Jason Crow asked if Biden’s mental fitness and age were a “national security risk”.
“You saw what happened recently in terms of the meeting we had with NATO. I put NATO together … name me a foreign leader who thinks I’m not the most effective leader in the world on foreign policy. Tell me! Tell me who the hell that is,” Biden was quoted as saying by a person present.
“Tell me who enlarged NATO, tell me who did the Pacific basin! Tell me who did something that you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son — and I’m proud of your leadership, but guess what, what’s happening, we’ve got Korea and Japan working together, I put AUKUS together, anyway.”
The comments about the Bronze Star — a military decoration for heroic achievements — did not go down well. Both Crow and Biden’s late son Beau were awarded the medal for their service in the Iraq war.
“‘Rambling’ Biden gets nasty with Bronze Star Democrat on Zoom call,” read one headline in The Daily Beast yesterday, while CNN went with “‘I don’t want to hear that crap’: Biden lashes out at Democrat in heated call”.
Conservative commentator Meghan McCain seized on the comments, slamming Biden on social media for “disrespecting veterans”, which she described as “disgusting and unpatriotic”, according to The Hill.
Even if Biden had gotten his point across without offending anyone, boasting of foreign policy achievements might not be much of a vote-winner. According to Axios, “there is little evidence that complex foreign policy issues are resonating with voters” — and a poll has shown there is actually a greater proportion of voters who have confidence in Trump making good foreign policy decisions than Biden.
The impact of the November election on the future of the AUKUS submarine alliance is one of the most closely watched aspects of the race, from an Australian perspective. While both Biden and Trump are professed supporters of the deal, concerns remain about the speed at which it’s being implemented and about the political will in Washington to proceed with the project’s dicier details.
Bloomberg reported earlier in the week that critics and supporters in Australia, the US and the UK are concerned about the slow pace of progress on the building and selling of US nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
“If you fast forward 10 years, I will be shocked if the Australians have a sub … It just seems very optimistic to think that all these investments will turn out by then,” senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Todd Harrison told the outlet.
Ex-Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who was in office when the pact launched, told Bloomberg he was confident AUKUS would survive a Trump win.
“There are obviously challenges … but it’s just one of those things where we have no choice but to be successful with the strategic environment we’re facing,” Morrison said.
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