Sen. Mike Braun to Newsmax: Biden’s Meeting With Putin Concerning
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., cited concerns Vladimir Putin will not respect President Joe Biden ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
“I think [Biden] needs to go in there with that reality that they are already viewing him in a way that probably is going to be ‘more pliable,’ so it’ll be interesting to see what happens,” Braun told Newsmax’s “Spicer & Co.”
Braun drew from his experience in watching former President Donald Trump deal with foreign actors, such as China and Russia, as someone who was tough but well respected. But to Braun, Biden’s tone seems like a stark difference from how his predecessor would handle the upcoming meeting.
“At least with Trump and Putin, you could tell that there was a general respect between the two, and you weren’t going to get any stuff pulled on you by the other side,” Braun told host Sean Spicer.
Braun believes the meeting between the two world leaders will not be fully televised, or at least some parts will be left out.
“I think if you say things before you’re actually face-to-face with people that will be measured that you’re brave until you’re sitting in the same room,” Braun said. “And I’m anxious to see if they’re gonna televise the entirety, and how much we’re going to get of it? Whether it will be clipped, where you may not see that discomfort, that shying away from a tough discussion. Or whether you have it in the first place. I think we’ll find out a lot of that, maybe once it’s debriefed, whether we’ll see it on film. “I’m wondering.”
Braun went on to list concerns alluding to his point, such as Biden baptizing Putin with approval to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline spanning from Russia to Germany, but then Biden revoked, in his first few days in office, the building permit from TC Energy to build the Keystone XL Pipeline.
“There’s a difference between what you talk about a week or two ahead of time and what happens when you’re face to face with individuals that play the long game and play hardball,” Braun said.
