The Biden Foreign-Policy ‘Master Class’ That Wasn’t

Desperate for some evidence that their eyes have deceived them and Joe Biden is sharper than he so often appears, Democratic partisans spit-polished the president’s performance at what should have been a routine press conference ending NATO’s Washington summit. The president’s non-sequiturs and meandering digressions into cognitive cul-de-sacs were, Biden’s allies and courtiers assured us, a rare species of genius.

“No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates playfully assured the spectacle’s viewers. “He’s just that f***ing good.” Maybe we should expect that sort of obsequiousness from someone in the president’s employ, but it’s another thing to hear these same sentiments from ostensibly objective commentators.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Desperate for some evidence that their eyes have deceived them and Joe Biden is sharper than he so often appears, Democratic partisans spit-polished the president’s performance at what should have been a routine press conference ending NATO’s Washington summit. The president’s non-sequiturs and meandering digressions into cognitive cul-de-sacs were, Biden’s allies and courtiers assured us, a rare species of genius.

“No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates playfully assured the spectacle’s viewers. “He’s just that f***ing good.” Maybe we should expect that sort of obsequiousness from someone in the president’s employ, but it’s another thing to hear these same sentiments from ostensibly objective commentators.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.