National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday that the midterm results showed world leaders the “health and vibrancy” of U.S. democracy.
“Yesterday President Biden said that several world leaders were talking to him about the midterm elections about what happened here in the United States last week. Can you shed any light on what those discussions were and maybe what some of the world leaders said?” Adrienne Elrod asked Kirby.
Kirby said several leaders acknowledged the midterms “went well” for Democrats.
“I mean it was a real signal, and you heard the president talk about this last night too. The real signal about the health and the vibrancy of the American democracy, that it is still viable, that it’s still powerful and that it still can mean so much on the world stage,” he said.
Kirby said Biden was congratulated by world leaders and that the president was very “eager” to get to these meetings because he felt confident about foreign policy initiatives in addition to feeling good about the results of the midterm elections.
Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia on Monday and raised concerns about Taiwan, Hong Kong and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When he says America is back, now he says America is not only back but we’re leading. And you can see that in the outcomes and infrastructure investments, in the security agreements that are being made both in Cambodia and here in Indonesia. I mean it’s really bearing fruit and the president is very, very confident about that,” Kirby said.
“Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski also emphasized that democracy was “bolstered” in the U.S. as the president met with the Chinese president.
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Biden and Xi did not discuss the COVID-19 pandemic during their meeting.
“On Taiwan, he laid out in detail that our One China policy has not changed, the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and the world has an interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said about the meeting.
Biden also raised concerns over the war in Ukraine, according to the White House.
“President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” the White House said.
