Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ripped President Biden for his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, claiming the president was “projecting weakness.”
Biden and Xi met in San Francisco on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, where they traded barbs over policy regarding Taiwan but also showed openness to economic collaboration.
Notably, Biden came under fire from the Chinese government for labeling Xi a “dictator” during a press conference.
“Anyone who looks at this objectively has to agree that President Biden is projecting weakness on the world stage,” Johnson said in an interview with “Cats and Cosby” host John Catsimatidis on Friday. “I am from the [President] Reagan school. He always said we maintain peace through strength. He was exactly right.”
“If you project weakness, you invite aggression. It’s a dangerous time right now to be inviting aggression on our country,” he continued. “That’s why you see China, Iran, Russia, all of our adversaries around the world … being very provocative.”
Johnson also criticized American tech CEOs, who hosted Xi at a dinner on Thursday to a warm reception.
“I thought it was shameful that we gave standing ovations … by these CEOs of tech companies to a communist leader of a nation that persecutes its own people,” he said. “[That’s] causing havoc around the world, and is trying to be a peer-to-peer adversary with the United States. This is not a game.”