I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that Biden won’t be spending his umpteenth weekend vacationing at his beach house in Delaware over the next few days. The bad news is that he’s spending that time in Europe attempting to defuse a possible world war. So yeah, that’s not preferable for the rest of us given his track record.

A promotional video of the president’s arrival at NATO in Brussels has been released, and there are several noteworthy things about it. Here’s what that looked like.

Biden arrives at NATO, but refused to take questions.

Most other world leaders took questions. pic.twitter.com/vguCF1A5gG

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 24, 2022

Can we start with the fact that he’s grinning like a Cheshire cat? Does he know where he’s at? Does he know why he’s there? In case he missed it, Russia has invaded Europe. Again, Russia has invaded Europe. Given that, why is the President of the United states preening for the cameras like he’s doing a red carpet walk? People are dying, partly because of his impotence as a leader, and he’s out here enjoying the view. It’s a really odd look and one that I find disturbing. Biden signaling to US adversaries that he’s just having a good time and isn’t taking this moment seriously is also harmful on a very practical level.

Then there’s Biden’s walk itself. I don’t know what they are giving him before these public appearances, but not only does he appear to be totally out of it, but his gait is one of a man that should be seeing a home health nurse, not attempting (and failing at) leading the free world. I know some people will think that’s petty to point out, but perceptions matter on the international stage. Our enemies are obviously sizing up Biden as a weak man, both physically and mentally, and that has led to absolute chaos across the globe. And before someone says it, there’s a big difference between someone being physically handicapped (i.e. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott) but otherwise strong and sharp compared to what Biden presents as.

To cap all those bad optics off, Biden then refused to take questions, something almost every other leader present did. Again, perceptions matter and the US president comes across as mentally and physically weak to our enemies when he can’t even manage to answer a few questions on the way into NATO.

I’ll say it for the third time: Russia has invaded Europe. This isn’t the time to play celebrity and soak in the perks of the office. It’s the time to be stern, serious, and present a real deterrent to tyranny. Instead, we are left with Biden, who constantly seems amused by the fact that he’s even up and walking around. Do you want continued aggression in the world? Because this is how you get it.

During the Trump years, I was assured that perceptions and optics matter. I was constantly told that how a president presents himself is a matter of life and death and that adversaries act based on such factors. If that was true then, it’s true now, and Biden should be held to the same standard. Laughing his way through NATO, barely able to walk, while Putin murders civilians was a terrible start to this European trip.