Following the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden appeared to catch one Democratic senator off guard as he made a comment to him.
In the minutes following the speech, Biden made his way through Democratic lawmakers when he came across Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and he suddenly stopped to speak to Menendez.
“Bob, I gotta talk to you about Cuba,” Biden said.
A seemingly surprised Menendez simply replied, “Okay,” before Biden continued, adding, “I’m serious.”
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It’s unknown what exactly Biden intended to speak to Menendez about, but the New Jersey senator has become known for taking a hard stance against the country’s communist government.
Some believe that Biden may be hoping to make a deal with the senator to get a closer relationship with the island nation, while others believe that he may be taking a harder stance against them himself.
The issue has caused some friction between Biden and his administration and Menendez, whose parents emigrated from Cuba, in the past, according to the New Jersey Globe, an online political news site based in the Garden State.
Menendez issued opposition last year to a Biden administration decision to loosen rules on group tours to the island nation.
“I am dismayed to learn the Biden administration will begin authorizing group travel to Cuba through visits akin to tourism,” Menendez said in a statement in May. “To be clear, those who still believe that increasing travel will breed democracy in Cuba are simply in a state of denial. For decades, the world has been traveling to Cuba and nothing has changed.
“For over sixty years, the tides of romanticism toward Cuba have come and gone, but they’ve always crashed hard against the rocks of reality,” he continued. “Today is another reminder that we must ground our policy in that reality, reaffirm our nation’s indiscriminate commitment to fight for democracy from Kyiv to Havana, and make clear we will measure our success in freedom and human rights and not money and commerce.”
In August, Menendez partnered with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on legislation which called upon the Biden administration to call for the extradition of suspected criminals and terrorists who have taken refuge in Cuba, according to a news release from Menendez’s Senate office.
In recent months, the Biden administration has been seeking to restart discussions with Cuba on counterterrorism and law enforcement issues, with the first talks held last month, according to the State Department.
“This type of dialogue enhances the national security of the United States through improved international law enforcement coordination, which enables the United States to better protect U.S. citizens and bring transnational criminals to justice,” the State Department said in a statement, adding, “this dialogue does not impact the administration’s continued focus on critical human rights issues in Cuba.”
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