Joe Biden on Tuesday strongly condemned his Republican rival Donald Trump's recent “idiotic” and undignified comments on NATO.
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He reiterated on Saturday that he would “encourage” Russia to attack the countries in the defense alliance if they did not pay their share.
“It’s stupid, it’s unworthy, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American,” the American president said during a speech at the White House.
“The worst thing is that he thinks it. “Never in our history has a president prostrated himself before a Russian dictator,” he continued.
“When America gives its word, it means something. When we make a commitment, we stick with it, and NATO is a sacred commitment. Donald Trump sees this as a burden. He believes that NATO is a system of blackmail. “He doesn’t understand that NATO is based on the fundamental principles of freedom, security and sovereignty,” Joe Biden continued.
“For Trump, principles don’t matter, everything is up for grabs. He doesn’t understand that this sacred obligation works for us too,” said the 81-year-old Democrat, who, barring any major surprises, will face the 77-year-old Republican tycoon in November’s presidential election.
“Our opponents have been trying to split the alliance for a long time. The best hope of everyone who wants to harm America is that NATO falls apart. “You can be sure that they applauded when they heard Donald Trump,” assured Joe Biden, who, on the contrary, is proud of having given new impetus to the organization.
The former president's comments sparked widespread outrage in Europe.
Donald Trump regularly criticizes allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for not keeping their military spending commitments.
Around twenty NATO countries will reach the target of 2% of their GDP for military spending this year, we learned on Tuesday from a source close to the alliance, a few days after this criticism by the Republican of the states that would not pay their share in Europe .