During the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden talked a number of times about the power of words. Here’s what he said:

“The words of a president matter, no matter who the president is, no matter how responsible or irresponsible the president is. A president, whoever he or she is, can take us to war or bring peace, can have markets rise or fall, appeal to the seedier side of humanity, or to our better angels. It matters, it really matters, and so I think it’s about the tone.”

When Trump won the 2016 presidential election, the Left said the economy would collapse and he would start WWIII.

Following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, America’s enemies watched our president. What they saw emboldened them. North Korea started shooting off missiles. Iran jerked America around, negotiating a disastrous nuclear deal. China is eyeing Taiwan. Biden sent Kamala Harris to encourage our allies that we stood by them. Her “word salad” speeches in which she said nothing of substance did little to ensure our allies we are up to the task.

Then Joe went to NATO himself. As he has a tendency to do, he left our allies scratching their heads as to what he meant. Back at home, we are hoping and praying Vladimir Putin doesn’t use Biden’s words and fire up his people to join in his war effort.

Just three of this past weekend’s stumblings need to be considered. First, Biden seemed to imply we would be sending troops into Ukraine when he visited American troops in Poland. He told them they would see the results of Putin’s aggression when they were in Ukraine. Misspoken words like that only fuel Putin’s paranoia about America.

Then Biden snapped at a reporter when she asked what he intended to do since sanctions against Russia and Putin were not working. He replied that sanctions were never intended to stop Putin because they never deter. That left all of us scratching our heads because everyone in his administration was spouting the sanctions strategy to deter Putin.

See for yourself what each of these officials said about sanctions:

• National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, February 11: “The president believes that sanctions are intended to deter.”

• Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, February 21: “We want them to have a deterrent effect, clearly.”

• VP Kamala Harris, February 20: “The purpose of sanctions in the first instance is to try and deter Russia from going to war.”

• Press Secretary Jen “Circle Back” Psaki, February 22: “Sanctions can be a powerful tool. … Yes, our intention is to have a deterrent effect.”

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken, February 20: “The purpose of the sanctions in the first instance is to try to deter Russia from going to war.”

Finally, in a speech on his last day in Europe, Biden shouted, “[Putin] cannot remain in power,” seemingly implying regime change. Biden, whether he is aware of what he’s saying or not, gave Putin ammunition to use in his propaganda campaign to rally his nation behind “America’s aggression.”

The White House has been walking back his words, which makes Biden and the U.S. appear even weaker to our enemies. Words do matter, especially if you are the president.

Something to think about?