Biden vs. his team on sanctions

Today, Joe Biden insisted that “I did not say that in fact the sanctions would deter [Putin]. Sanctions never deter.”

Biden: "I did not say that, in fact, sanctions would deter [Putin]. Sanctions never deter."

Biden's administration said the exact opposite for weeks. pic.twitter.com/PpymOxVh6Q

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 24, 2022

This directly contradicts his entire national security team, who said throughout February they weren't preemptively levying sanctions because they thought the threat of sanctions would deter Russia.

• National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that “the President believes that sanctions are intended to deter.”
• Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that “there is a deterrent effect by keeping [the sanctions] in reserve.”
• Vice President Kamala Harris said the threat of sanctions will “absolutely” deter Putin from making the decision to invade.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the purpose of the sanctions “is to try to deter Russia from going to war.”
• John Kirby said sanctions are “supposed to be a deterrent” and they are hoping that the sanctions “could affect the calculus.”
• John Kirby said that the Biden administration wants the sanctions to “have a deterrent effect.”
• Jake Sullivan said that Biden wanted Russia to understand “exactly what the scope and nature of the sanctions they will face are as a deterrent measure.”
• A senior Biden administration official said that “sanctions are meant to serve a higher purpose, which is to deter and prevent.”
• Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh said that sanctions are “meant to prevent and deter a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
• Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said that the Biden administration was trying to “deter Russia through sanctions and to deescalate this situation through diplomacy.”
• Blinken said that the sanctions are designed “to try to deter Russia from taking further aggression.”

Bottom line: Biden promised he would keep Putin in check. He failed and is now trying to rewrite his record.