Republicans Are Blaming Biden For Russia Invading Ukraine But It’s Not His Fault

When they understand Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are generally two types of Republicans. The first type is basically sided with Russia. They can say this by saying that Vladimir Putin never did anything to methat Putin is “smart” and “knowing”“Or Putin just feel cornered by an encroaching NATO.

The second type of Republican thinks it’s bad for Russia to invade Ukraine—and it’s all Joe Biden’s fault!

These two are hardly compatible with each other. But since it’s no longer possible to pretend the invasion is only a small part of our imagination, some conservatives say the responsibility should be given to the “West,” NATO, or Joe Biden; it cannot be delivered to Putin, Russia, or (at least) Donald Trump.

Because neither the “West” nor NATO will go to the polls anytime soon, Biden is the most visible and politically favorable scapegoat. But is this fair? I was once a scathing critic of Biden (this, this, this, thisand this, just to cite a few examples). But blame Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine attack me like a bad faith argument made out of political speech.

That’s not to say Biden hasn’t made mistakes. His biggest thing is probably waive sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (a pipeline used to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany). He’s recently reimposed them. Biden’s original decision was the wrong one, but it was clearly made at the behest of Germany, who argued that the sanctions constituted “Interfering in autonomous decisions made in Europe.” Biden also (wrong, in my estimation) canceled the XL pipeline, showing weakness with his disastrous retreat in Afghanistan (this is Ted Cruz’s rationale for blaming Biden), and continue reward Putin’s bad behavior with summits, calls and meetings. There’s also his strangely silly quote about a “small trespass“Which doesn’t matter in the end.

Biden was also part of the Obama administration, making big mistakes like Obama’s “Red Lines” in Syria and a reaction after the Crimean invasion did nothing to subdue Putin. But it would be fairer to focus on what happened on Biden’s watch; some of these (e.g. Nord Stream 2 and the Keystone XL pipeline) have reversed Trump administration policies.

Which brings us to the million dollar question: Will this invasion happen under Trump’s tracking? This is a more interesting question than you might think at first. Bulwark’s Will Saletan argues that Putin did not Yes to invade other countries during Trump’s presidency because “Putin doesn’t want to mess with a larger interest: an ally in the US trying to weaken NATO.” Trump’s long history of praising Putin (lowest score is Helsinki, when he sided with Russia before the US intelligence community) makes it hard to imagine that he would rise on this occasion.

On the other hand, others argue that Trump’s erratic, erratic style (consider Iran’s Qasem Soleimani killing) may have acted as a deterrent, similar to “madman theoryPolitically raised by Richard Nixon. Also, because Trump is an egotist (who likes to look tough), he may feel compelled to overcompensate during an invasion. This, ironically, raises the possibility that even Putin did not invade and/or of Trump started World War III to prove his masculinity. Having said that, when it comes to the actual policies of his administration, Trump deserves more credit than he gets. Unlike Obama, Trump provides vital aid to Ukraine. He also approved the Keystone XL pipeline, sanctions approved for Nord Stream 2and support a larger defense budget.

In other words, it’s messy and confusing. The best analogy to explain Trump’s management of Russia might be Homer Simpson’s assessment of alcohol as “Causes and solutions to all problems in life. ”

As a conservative author and writer Matthew Continetti pointed out“Joe Biden is now the fourth US president to take office with the desire to improve relations with Russia.” Bush looked him in the eye and didn’t see a single KGB agent, Obama was rolling around, and Trump was damned. And the truth is, none of that works.

Biden is just latest failed to manage Putin. And while we can fault Biden for not learning from his predecessors (who thought they could seduce or outmaneuver Putin), he also suffered from the bad hand he received. inherit from them. Putin is also stronger today than in previous presidential terms.

It’s also important to note that over the past month or so, Biden has done everything correctly. He fought against Russia’s attempt to create a bogus pretext for the invasionclearly condemn”without reason and without reason“Invade, build a broad international support allianceand impose punishment (including sanctions against the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline).

But just for fun, let’s pretend for a second that Biden was somehow blamed for the invasion. Let’s assume that Biden’s weakness has influenced Putin. Is now the time for Americans to dump those dirty clothes and point their guns inside? When the invasion begins, wouldn’t the patriotic thing not be to focus on the Ukrainian people and focus our raging anger on the man actually responsible?

No, not Joe Biden. Vladimir Putin.