[By Guancha Observer Network, Xiong Chaoying] On May 7 local time, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released an interview with former US President Biden, which was Biden's first interview after leaving office. In the interview, Biden broke his silence and the precedent of "rarely criticizing successors" by launching a full-scale attack on his successor, Trump.

According to reports from The Huffington Post on the same day, several hours after this interview was publicly released, Steven Cheung, Director of the White House Office of Communications and Assistant to the President, reposted the related report link on the X platform and criticized Biden as a "disgrace," even questioning the "mental capacity" of the former US president.

"Joe Biden is a disgrace to this country and the position he occupies (the presidency). He has obviously lost all mental capacity, and those who manipulate him seem to think it's a good idea to let him be interviewed, mumbling incoherently in response to every question. Sadly, this feels like abuse," Cheung wrote.

Cheung, 42 years old, grew up in Sacramento, the capital of California, with parents who are Chinese immigrants. He joined Trump's campaign team in 2016 and served as the Director of the White House Strategic Response during his first term. In 2018, he left the White House to establish his own consulting company, assisting in organizing the Republican National Convention as a campaign advisor for Trump. Later, he became one of the first members of Trump's super political action committee MAGA Inc., and joined his team when Trump announced his second presidential run in November 2022.

Screenshot of Cheung's post on the X platform

In the interview, Biden criticized Trump's treatment of America's allies as "degrading" and his appeasement of Russia on the Ukraine issue, while expressing concerns about the future of the transatlantic alliance.

The BBC reported that Biden seemed most angry about how Trump treated America's allies, especially Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

"I find this very degrading for America," Biden said when talking about the intense argument between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House in February. "We're now talking about 'this is the American Gulf' 'maybe we need to retake Panama' 'maybe we need Greenland' 'maybe Canada should become (the 51st state)'... What’s going on here?"

He accused, "Which president would say such things? This is not us. We strive for freedom, democracy, and opportunities, not plunder."

Biden's first interview after leaving office - BBC video screenshot

In the conversation, Nick Robinson, a BBC journalist, asked Biden if he regretted his decision not to run for re-election in the 2024 US presidential election, where Trump defeated Democratic candidate Harris.

To this, Biden replied, "No regrets, I think it was the right decision," then paused, "I think... it was just a difficult decision."

The BBC pointed out that during his campaign and after taking office, Trump frequently mentioned Biden's name. A recent analysis showed that during Trump's first 100 days in office, he mentioned or wrote the word "Biden" at least 580 times.

Aside from this interview, on the evening of April 15, Biden also delivered his first public speech after leaving office, criticizing Trump's administration for causing "serious damage" to the United States, accusing Trump of attempting to cut Social Security and redirect funds for tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations. Shortly afterward, White House press secretary Lettitt mocked Biden's health condition, saying, "I thought he went to bed much earlier than tonight's speech."

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501968335882650150/

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