Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden predicted potential conflict for Ukraine under a hypothetical second term of Donald Trump’s presidency on the campaign trail in 2019.
The remarks resurfaced this week in light of the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine under current President Biden ordered by leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
“It’s going to take a hell of a lot of work to make up all the damage he has done internationally and nationally,” Biden claimed while speaking at a campaign event in Washington, DC. “His network of thugs and co-conspirators are going to continue to undermine our democracy in the meantime.”
“Imagine what he can do in another year,” Biden said. “Imagine what can happen in Ukraine.”
The full Russian invasion of Ukraine – an expansion of an invasion that began in 2014 but had languished – is one of two major international crises that have occurred under Biden’s leadership. Biden also oversaw the extension of the 20-year war in Afghanistan past President Trump’s negotiated deadline of May 2021, resulting in the collapse of the government there and the return of Taliban rule.
In contrast, Trump’s tenure was marked with the beginning of no major wars for the United States. Putin did not act to invade any of his neighbors between 2016 and 2020.
The Biden administration implemented sanctions this week intended to deter Russia from invading Ukraine, according to Vice President Kamala Harris, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. When the sanctions failed, Biden denied that anyone thought the point of the sanctions was to deter an invasion.
When Biden was questioned on Thursday whether the sanctions were intended to stop the Russian aggression, Biden told reporters, “no one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening,” referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week.
Putin ordered a “special operation” into Ukraine that has resulted in ongoing heavy military clashes between the two countries. Russian forces are reportedly targeting Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky remains in the country fighting with his people.