Helpless Antony Blinken Caught on Camera Cringing as Biden Calls Xi Jinping a ‘Dictator’ During Press Conference
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was caught cringing after President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator following their bilateral meeting on Wednesday.
Following Biden’s meeting with Xi in Woodside, California, a reporter asked him, “Mr. President, after today, would you still refer to President Xi as a dictator? This is a term that you used earlier this year.”
Biden replied, “Well look, he is! I mean, he’s a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country based on a form of government totally different than ours.”
Blinken, who sat in the front row during Biden’s press conference, could be seen cringing and turning his head after Biden said, “Well look, he is!”
Asked by CBS News about his “visibly uncomfortable” reaction to Biden’s comment, Blinken said, “Well, it’s not exactly a secret that we have two very different systems, and the president always speaks candidly and he speaks for all of us.”
He continued, “It’s clear that we will continue to say things and continue to do things that China doesn’t like, just as I assume that they will continue to do and say things that we don’t like.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning condemned Biden’s remarks during a press conference of her own on Thursday.
“This kind of statement is extremely incorrect and irresponsible political manipulation, which China resolutely opposes,” she declared. “It needs to be pointed out that there have always been people with ill intentions who try to sow discord and undermine China-US relations, and this will not succeed.”
In June, Biden received backlash in China over similar remarks which referred to Xi as a dictator.
“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn’t know it was there,” said Biden at the time. “That’s a great embarrassment for dictators.”
Following that incident, Mao Ning called Biden’s comment “irresponsible” and “an open political provocation.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
