“China’s going to eat our lunch? Come on, man,” Biden says incredulously. “I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks, folks. They’re not competition for us,” he continued.

The above assessment might’ve made sense when he began his political career in 1973, but the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee delivered those remarks last year.

Joe Biden is dangerously out of touch with the current threat posed by today’s modern, powerful Chinese Communist Party. Then again, he has a habit of defaulting to long-outdated notions when he is under pressure. Is this extreme underestimation of our chief economic rival by default or by design?

In an election threat update issued August 7, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center’s William Evanina warned that foreign actors including China, Russia, and Iran are engaging in overt and covert efforts to sway the 2020 U.S. elections.

Of China, Evanina said, “We assess that China prefers that President Trump—whom Beijing sees as unpredictable—does not win reelection.” In other words, the CCP thinks its future is brighter in Biden’s America.

Evanina specifically notes Beijing’s recognition that the CCP’s harsh criticism of the Administration’s actions and statements on Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China’s efforts to dominate the 5G market could all affect the presidential race.

Even the notoriously liberal Washington Post, the mouthpiece for America’s wealthiest man, concedes that Trump’s battering of China’s business sector has been crippling, most notably with high-tech companies like Huawei. The paper also notes that the Democratic Party’s platform rhetoric, while generally taking a “tough line” on China, is more accommodating than the Trump administration.

When it comes to China, America requires a strong leader with equally strong follow-through. Joe Biden’s equivocation and quiet avoidance simply will not get the job done.