Tuesday 29 December 2020
Blockage at handover
Biden castigates Trump as "irresponsible"
In a speech on questions of national security, the future US President Biden attacked his predecessor Trump vehemently: The fact that the Republican repeatedly sabotaged the handover was "completely irresponsible".
The future US President Joe Biden has violently attacked incumbent Donald Trump. In a speech he accused the Trump administration of blocking the handover. In a speech in his hometown of Wilmington, Biden complained that his team did not get all the information they needed on key national security issues. This is "irresponsible".
Biden complained specifically about the Ministry of Defense and criticized the department putting obstacles in the way of his team and obstructing the handover. Biden's team had previously complained that the Ministry of Defense was canceling briefings and withholding information. The Pentagon rejected that.
Incumbent Trump lost the presidential election to his Democratic challenger Biden in early November. But he refuses to admit defeat. It was only after weeks of hanging around after the election that Trump instructed the authorities to cooperate with the Biden team to hand over official business. Biden already described this procedure as "completely irresponsible".
The orderly handover of official business after a presidential election is enshrined in law. The goal is to ensure that Americans can always count on having a functioning government.
USA should "lead the free world" again
In his speech, Biden devoted himself to an outlook on his foreign policy: After the end of Trump's term in office, Biden believes that the United States will have to make amends with its international allies. There is currently a "huge vacuum" – the future government must regain the confidence of a world "that has begun to find ways to work around us or to work without us," said Biden. "We will regain our credibility to lead the free world."
Biden reiterated the need for international cooperation, particularly with regard to China. The US, with like-minded partners and allies, could take a much stronger position vis-à-vis China to defend common interests and values, Biden said. The Chinese leadership must be held accountable for their abuse of trade and technology as well as for human rights abuses.
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