Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by UK Labour Party lawmaker Chris Bryant, who credited the politician for easing political tensions amid violent protests across the US.
“When American cities have been in flames and citizen has been pitched against citizen, Joe has been a calming influence to bear,” Bryant reportedly said Monday. “When others have resorted to violent solutions, he has argued that the best force is the force of argument because guns can stop a heart, but well-placed words can change many hearts, and many hearts can change the world.”
The nomination came just one day before the first US presidential debate. Biden's rival, President Donald Trump, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times this year, most recently on Monday by Australian law professors praising the “Trump Doctrine” against endless wars.
Also on rt.com Delayed reaction? Trump’s media foe The Atlantic calls to ‘end’ Nobel Peace Prize after his nomination, but not after Obama’sTrump's other nominations came from Swedish Parliament member Magnus Jacobsson for helping to broker a peace and economic deal between Serbia and Kosovo, and Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde for brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The Trump administration later followed up on that deal by getting Bahrain to join the UAE in a normalization agreement with Israel.
While Bryant praised Biden's efforts to ease civil unrest, Biden was largely silent about the violent nature of many Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests this summer. Even CNN host Don Lemon warned in late August that riots across the US – and the failures of Biden and other Democrat politicians to condemn and quell the violence – was a "blind spot" that could cost Biden votes in November.
The nomination also raised eyebrows among critics of Biden's record of supporting wars and military interventions as a Senator and later as vice president under former President Barack Obama. The Obama-Biden administration campaigned on peace – and Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 largely on speculation that he would deliver on his promises – but the US instead started new wars and prolonged existing ones. The administration finished its last full year, 2016, by dropping more than 26,000 bombs around the world and expanded the presence of US special forces to 70 percent of the world’s nations, more than doubling their reach under former President George W. Bush.
Biden not only voted for Bush's Iraq War in 2003 but also argued for removing Saddam Hussein from power in 1998. He also voted to authorize former President Bill Clinton's bombing of Serbia (along with NATO) in 1999, as well as supported Obama's disastrous intervention in Syria.
Mindful of that track record, Twitter users ridiculed Bryant for nominating Biden. “Biden's never been anything but a rubber stamp for CIA bull***t,” one commenter tweeted. “I'm sure the people of Libya and Syria will be glad to hear that," one observer said of the nomination, followed by another who added “Not to mention Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.”
Another commenter speculated that he saw a trend in Bryant's move: “I think the idea for these warmongering Henry Jackson Society types is to undermine the Nobel Peace Prize with absurd nominations.”
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