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October 6, 2021

Kerry tells French TV viewers that Biden was ‘literally’ not aware of the deal that caused France to recall its ambassador to the United States

By Thomas Lifson

A stunning admission from an administration insider that the President of The United States is clueless and out of touch on some of the most important strategic issues of the day was delivered to a French television audience by former Secretary of State and current presidential special envoy for climate John F. Kerry.

Last month, France recalled its ambassador to the United States in reaction to the secret negotiation of a military alliance called AUKUS (Australia, UK, and the US) that resulted in the cancellation of a gigantic (estimates as high as $66 billion) contract for Australia to buy French diesel submarines (to be assembled in Australia, but generating many jobs in France). Instead, Australia will use American nuclear technology and push back the entry in service of the new submarine fleet by several years. The alliance that excluded France and devastated employment in its defense industries caught the French by surprise.

One might think that a new strategic alliance with a huge negative impact on our oldest ally might be something that POTUS ought to know about. Jim Geraghty of National Review, who broke the story, writes:

In an interview with French television, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry helpfully explains that President Biden simply had no idea that the U.S.-U.K.-Australia deal on submarines would irk the French government, and “had not been aware of what had transpired.”

Kerry: President Biden asked me about it, and I told him, and expressed–

Interviewer, surprised: You told Joe Biden that it was not the right-

Kerry: He asked me. He said, ‘what’s the situation?’ and I explained exactly, uh… He was he had not been aware of that, he literally, literally had not been aware of what had transpired. And I don’t want to go into the details of it, but suffice it to say, that that the president… My president is very committed to, um, strengthening the relationship and making sure that this is a small event of the past and moving on to the much more important future.

See for yourself:

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) reacted with an important point: Biden apparently is completely unaware of the importance of keeping allies informed of our strategic plans and moves, and this could explain the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that left not just Americans and our Afghan allies stranded, but also citizens of many of our allies that sent people there to help our war effort.

Kerry’s complete interview, which began in French, can be seen below:

Photo credit: Twitter video screengrab

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