President Joe Biden turned his back on reporters, ignoring shouted questions about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine — and threats leveled against any nation that would dare provide assistance — as he walked alone from Marine One to the White House.
“President Biden arrives back at the White House after spending the weekend in Delaware. Biden did not stop to answer questions from reporters about the conflict in Eastern Europe,” The Hill tweeted along with a video of the president as he crossed the White House lawn, appearing to not even acknowledge the press gathered a short distance away as they shouted their questions after him.
President Biden arrives back at the White House after spending the weekend in Delaware. Biden did not stop to answer questions from reporters about the conflict in Eastern Europe. https://t.co/r1UJDrlCmK pic.twitter.com/kiSb7vc5aW
— The Hill (@thehill) February 28, 2022
“Mr. President, is Ukraine winning the war?” one reporter asked.
“Mr. President, do you fear …” another began.
“Mr. President, do you believe Russia will use a nuclear weapon?” another reporter asked.
And one more: “Mr. President, are you worried about nuclear war?”
Biden made no move to address the questions or even wave to the reporters as he walked across the lawn and into the White House.
Putin has issued several threats in recent days that a number have interpreted to mean he is not taking the use of tactical nuclear weapons off the table.
As The Daily Wire reported:
The Russia leader blamed the United States’ “empire of lies” for setting up the conflict and referenced Russia’s nuclear capacity in what appeared to be a veiled threat of nuclear war.
“Whoever would try to stop us and further create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and lead you to such consequences that you have never faced in your history. We are ready for any outcome,” Putin said.
He remarked that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states” with “a certain advantage in several cutting edge weapons.”
Putin also elevated the alert level over the weekend, apparently prompting Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces to “special combat readiness” to prepare for the possible deployment of nuclear weapons.
As The Daily Wire reported Sunday:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Linda Thomas Greenfield responded to Russia’s latest move during a Sunday morning appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” saying “It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave a concurrent statement on CNN, saying, “This is dangerous rhetoric. This is behavior which is irresponsible. That’s the reason why we both provide support to Ukraine but also why we over the last weeks and months have significantly increased the presence of NATO in the eastern part of the alliance.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed the question during Monday’s press briefing, saying that the White House had seen no reason to update the threat level in the United States in response to Putin’s threats.
Reporter: "Has the United States changed its nuclear posture?"
Psaki: "We've not had seen reason to change our own alert levels." pic.twitter.com/z0Eyz6pqo2
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 28, 2022