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‘Looks terrified’: All eyes on Blinken’s odd demeanor as he shadows Biden after meeting with Xi

November 16, 2023 | | Print Article

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visibly winced and cringed when President Biden referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” after meeting with the communist despot.

“Would you still refer to President Xi as a dictator?” a reporter asked.

“Well, look, he is,” Biden stated in answer to a question, “He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours.”

Looking exceedingly uncomfortable and disgusted, Blinken just shook his head when Biden made the comment during questions with the press on Wednesday. In one fell swoop, many claimed Biden blew months of intense diplomacy between the US and China.

“Blinken, 61, physically recoiled and appeared to shake his head and fidget with his hands when Biden said Xi ‘is a dictator in the sense that he is the guy who runs the country that is a community country…based on a form of government different than ours’ at a solo press conference,” the New York Post reported.

“The indelicate remark came shortly after Biden, 80, met with Xi for four hours in San Francisco ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference – marking the two leaders’ first in-person sit-down in a year,” the news outlet added.

Former Italian diplomat Marco Carnelos took to X, slamming the president’s gaff while noting Blinken’s obvious discomfort and embarrassment.

“Secretary Blinken’s @ABlinken desperate body language after @POTUS President Biden – after his long-searched meeting with his counterpart! – called President Xi a dictator is priceless. Twelve months of hard work & diplomacy thrown in the toilet with a simple word. WTF,” he wrote on the social media platform, followed by a face-palm emoji.

“Watch Tony Blinken’s body language when Biden says he thinks Xi is a dictator,” NBC News reporter Ginger Gibson noted on X. “It’s like you can hear him sucking in his breath.”

Christine Duhaime, a journalist and financial crime expert, remarked, “Blinken reacting to Biden calling President Xi a dictator is priceless. You can tell he’s like jesussus no, in his head.”

The Chinese were incensed by Biden’s political faux pas after the meeting.

China condemned Biden’s reference at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, with Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning asserting that the comment by the president was “extremely wrong” and called it “irresponsible political manipulation,” according to ABC News.

Blinken was still doing damage control from Biden calling Xi a dictator in June and now he will have to start all over again. That misstep also got a scathing response from the Chinese government at the time.

“The US and China have been slowly rebuilding relations since the fallout over former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022 and the controversy over the alleged Chinese spy balloon in February,” the New York Post stated.

“Biden mostly spoke positively about the meeting with Xi Wednesday, telling reporters that the Chinese president agreed to curtail the export of pill presses and deadly fentanyl-related compounds,” the outlet continued.

The summit that was held in San Francisco, replete with communist Chinese flags lining the street to welcome the dictator also resulted in an agreement between the US and China to resume military-to-military communications. Xi, sensing weakness, warned the president that the US “turning their back” on China is “not an option.”

Commenters on X savaged Biden and almost pitied Blinken as he can be seen looking equally uncomfortable multiple times:

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