As last week wrapped up, Republicans celebrated the fact that they’d been handed an apparent gift. Special counsel Robert Hur’s findings on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents sparked a renewed preoccupation with the Democratic incumbent’s age.
GOP officials looked forward to a prolonged public conversation about Biden’s status as an octogenarian — right up until Donald Trump, the strategic genius that he is, derailed that conversation with some radical thoughts about NATO.
This past weekend, the former president, following years of criticisms against the alliance, told supporters that he was prepared to “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” if it attacked a NATO ally that hadn’t invested enough in national defense.
The national — and international — backlash was as fast as it was fierce. Even some congressional Republicans found it impossible to defend. Biden kept the story alive on Tuesday, condemning his predecessor’s rhetoric as “dangerous, and shockingly, frankly, un-American.”
A day later, the GOP’s likely 2024 nominee thought it’d be a good idea to double down. Politico reported overnight:
Donald Trump on Wednesday night underscored his controversial position that the U.S. would not defend any NATO ally country that does not spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.
“I’ve been saying, ‘Look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect, okay? And Biden who said, ‘Oh, this is so bad. This is so terrible that he would say that.’ No,” Trump declared at his latest South Carolina rally.
“One of the heads of the countries said, ‘Does that mean that if we don’t pay the bills, that you’re not going to protect us?’” the Republican added, saying that he told the foreign leader, “That’s exactly what it means. I’m not going to protect you.”
While it’s not exactly breaking news when Trump makes ridiculous comments, there are a…
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