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The Biden administration twice in one day acknowledged communism as a failed ideology and a “universally failed” system. The first time was during a press conference by Jen Psaki.
When Fox News reporter Peter Doocy questioned Psaki on whether she believed the protests in Cuba were due to the increase in Covid-19 cases or whether she thought Cubans were fed up with communism, the press secretary used the question to make clear the U.S. government’s position on communism.
“Communism is a failed ideology, we certainly believe that,” Psaki said. “It has failed the people of Cuba. They deserve freedom, they deserve a government that supports them, whether it’s making sure they have health and medical supplies, access to vaccinations, or providing them with economic opportunity and prosperity,” she added.
Instead, this government has been a communist, authoritarian regime that has repressed its people and failed the people of Cuba, Psaki said.
“The Government’s ideology has failed,” the Press Secretary insisted, “it has led [Cuba] to a lack of access to economic opportunity, health and Covid-19 vaccines, so both options are true.”
Later, during the Q&A of his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Biden was also challenged with a question similar to Psaki’s, but the reporter decided to go a step further and ask him what he thought about socialism.
“Communism is a failed system, universally failed,” Joe Biden responded, “and I don’t see socialism as a very useful substitute, but that’s another story.” Regarding Cuba, the president said that it is a “failed state” that represses its citizens.
Days earlier, Biden had already commented on his position regarding the protests in Cuba, which he referred to as a “remarkable” and “clear call for freedom.” “The Cuban people are demanding their liberation from an authoritarian regime. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this protest in a long time, if, frankly, ever.”
Peter Doocy harps on communism
The fact that the question was asked twice and on both occasions answered with such clarity is no accident. Days earlier, Psaki had avoided commenting on communism when asked by Doocy himself (with whom he has had several uncomfortable encounters in the past) what he thought the Cubans were protesting about.
Psaki replied that he had already “been quite clear” that Cubans “oppose the oppression and mismanagement of the government in the country.” She added: “We certainly support their right to protest and their efforts to speak out against their treatment [by the government] in Cuba.”
Finally, he said the White House “supports not only the role of protest and peaceful protests, but also the Cuban people in their call for freedom from both the pandemic and the decades of repression and economic suffering they have been subjected to by Cuba’s authoritarian regime.”
