Sen. Ted Cruz blasted President Biden’s foreign policy on Wednesday in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent kowtow to China.
The Texas Republican called Mr. Macron’s warning against Europe taking cues from the U.S. over Taiwan “stunning” and said Mr. Biden shoulders the blame for driving the U.S.’ oldest ally into the arms of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Even the left-wing leaders of Europe — whom Biden as assiduously courted (and obsequiously a—kissed) — are openly screwing the U.S.,” Mr. Cruz wrote on Twitter. “Serious Q: could Biden possibly have screwed up foreign policy more?”
Mr. Macron drew sharp backlash for his comments made during a three-day visit to China amid souring relations between Washington and Beijing.
“The question we Europeans are asking ourselves is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate when it comes to Taiwan? No,” the French president said during an interview from China’s southern city of Guangzhou. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. rhythm and a Chinese overreaction.”
Mr. Macron warned that Europe risks getting “caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building strategic autonomy.”
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, took to Twitter soon after the remarks were published to remind Europe that the U.S. is “spending a lot of taxpayer money on a European war.”
“If Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is they’re not going to pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, maybe then we should not be taking sides either,” Mr. Rubio said.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby sought to downplay Mr. Macron’s remarks on Monday, saying that the U.S. and France have “terrific bilateral cooperation.”
“We’re focused on … making sure that together we’re meeting the national security requirements of both countries,” he said.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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