(UnitedVoice.com) – Liberals like to mock MAGA Republicans by asking them if they are tired of all this winning, a reference to a talking point presented by Donald Trump during his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. Inversely, President Joe Biden appears to lack the ability to win at anything — including earning the approval of fellow Democrats on critical issues involving foreign policy and national security.
Biden recently found himself on the firing line over yet another apparent foreign policy blunder. Here’s what we know so far.
Biden Administration Authorizes Waivers Releasing Iranian Oil Revenue
On September 12, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller held a press conference detailing several foreign policy issues, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s decision to sign several waivers regarding billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues held in South Korean financial institutions.
Miller confirmed that Blinken signed an authorization for those South Korean banks to transfer the funds to accounts controlled and held by Qatar. The money would first be routed through European banks.
Officials from Qatar would only release the funds to Iran for humanitarian purposes. Treasury Department officials, the agency involved in freezing those assets, would oversee any transfers from Qatar accounts to Iranian entities.
Miller explained that the Biden administration agreed to the waivers in exchange for the release of five American citizens who had been “wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.”
Democrats and Republicans Blast Biden Administration Over Its Controversial Deal
On September 13, The Hill published a report detailing the “fierce blowback” lobbed against Biden administration officials for agreeing to exchange Iranian oil revenue for hostages. For example, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, blasted Biden for incentivizing rogue nations to take Americans hostage.
There’s NO downside for dictatorships, like Iran or Russia, to take Americans hostage.
With Biden, these regimes always get a good deal in the end and that's why they'll keep doing it. pic.twitter.com/8Vk5FGldjk
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) September 12, 2023
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) echoed that sentiment. During a recent appearance on Fox Business, he trashed Biden for removing any “downside” for authoritarian countries like Russia and Iran from kidnapping American citizens and holding them hostage to advance their treacherous goals. Waltz warned that those “regimes always get a good deal” with Biden, and “that is why they’ll keep” taking Americans hostage.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has a similar take on the Biden administration’s disastrous deal with Iran. He pointed out the obvious — If the United States keeps “paying a billion dollars” per hostage, “then you are going to [continue[ to see more kidnappings.” He also pointed to America’s longstanding policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
Former President Donald Trump also bashed Biden on his Truth Social page, calling him an “incompetent fool” hellbent on “destroying America. “Can you believe… [that] Biden is giving $6 billion to [Iran’s] terrorist regime?” he rhetorically asked.
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