Blarney: Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Blames Biden’s Gaffe On His Irish Heritage

When President Joe Biden promised as a candidate that he would bring back the “soul of America,” he likely did not mean that he was going to bring back prejudiced barbs between the Italians and the Irish, yet here we are — as former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently blamed one of Biden’s now infamous European gaffes on the commander-in-chief’s Irish heritage. 

On Saturday, Biden went off-script during a speech in Poland and said to the world, “For God’s sakes, this man cannot remain in power,” in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. As has been thoroughly covered, many took the president’s comment to mean that Biden was calling for regime change in Russia, something that is markedly different from official U.S. policy.

While the White House walked back the statement, The Daily Wire reported yesterday that it was not entirely clear that Biden had any idea such a clarification occurred. Biden doubled down on the comment on Monday, again saying that Putin shouldn’t remain in power while adding that he was simply expressing his own opinion with the comment.

“I was expressing my outrage. He shouldn’t remain in power, just like bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way,” Biden told reporters on Monday.

“I’m not walking anything back,” Biden added. “The fact of the matter is, I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man, which is just brutality.” 

Even those comments were different than what Biden was apparently advised to say, as a photojournalist caught an up-close shot of his “Tough Putin Q&A Talking Points” cheat sheet notecard. Based on that photo, he was supposed to avoid mentioning — again  — that Putin shouldn’t remain in power:

Biden had to have “I was not articulating a change in policy” written verbatim on a notecard so he wouldn’t screw it up… and he still screwed it up pic.twitter.com/OvEwlHQVry

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) March 28, 2022

After those comments, his media allies were still left to defend and explain away the comments.  One of those allies is the aforementioned Panetta.

On Monday night, the Secretary of Defense turned TV guest said on CNN’s “Newsroom” that — essentially — Biden simply could not stop himself from making such a comment. He’s just an Irishman, Panetta appeared to say, while adding the comment was not helpful for world affairs.

“I can understand his emotional feelings about Putin not staying in office,” Panetta said. “I think a lot of people would probably agree with that. But at this point in the game, you really have to keep your messages very simple and very direct, and I think this created some confusion that wasn’t helpful.”

“I happen to think that Joe Biden, you know, he’s Irish, really has a great deal of compassion when he sees that people are suffering,” he continued. “And I think it overwhelmed him in the sense of seeing all of the horrors that were resulting from this war.”

Panetta also added that the president needed some discipline.

Panetta’s comments can be seen here:

Former Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta:

Biden made comments that the White House needed to walk back because “Joe Biden, you know, is Irish.” pic.twitter.com/LlYSZHFuNN

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 29, 2022

It should be noted that Biden has also referenced his Irish heritage in recent weeks.

On St. Patrick’s Day, the president joked at the Friends of St. Patrick’s Day congressional lunch, “Bless me father, for I’m about to sin. I just want you to know, I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid. I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter.”

The Washington Examiner pointed out that “Giacoppa was actually first lady Jill Biden’s grandfather, not her father.”

Whether or not the president is smart can be up for debate, but it does not really matter if he is stupid, undisciplined, or simply Irish, as Panetta claimed.

What matters is that the commander-in-chief’s “gaffes” are causing constant confusion in the world at a time when certainty is needed from the commander-in-chief. Subsequent clarifying comments from his underlings in the administration only further give the impression that Biden does not have a handle on much of anything, let alone avoding World War III with Russia.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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