Recently, the incident that caused quite a stir in the United States was that US Secretary of Defense Austin entered the hospital and concealed the news of hospitalization for three days, and it was not until Friday, January 5, local time, that the American public and Congress did not know about it.
And Austin is 70 years old this year, and to be honest, he is still a "young man" compared to US President Joe Biden. Even if he did have some physical problems, such as common diseases, there was no reason to hide the news of his hospitalization.
And this kind of approach to cover up is very strange. This at least shows that the reason for Austin's hospitalization this time is probably not something that can calmly face the general public, and he doesn't even dare to tell the White House.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin
And according to the latest news, Austin has now moved from the intensive care unit to a "more private" ward. According to Pentagon spokesman Ryder's previous explanation, the reason for Austin's hospitalization was "complications after routine medical procedures."
Mr. Austin had fully returned to work on Friday night, after the hospitalization was made public. However, judging from the news that Austin has been transferred to a "private ward", this matter may not be over yet.
And the Republican Party quickly smelled something unusual about this and began to attack Austin and the Biden administration. According to US media reports, Matt, a hard-line Republican House of Representatives, plans to impeach Austin.
It is worth mentioning that this is not his own idea, former US President Trump also participated in this "conspiracy war" caused by the concealment of admission information, and he joined the House Republican Conference Chairman Elise and others to call for Austin to step down.
Trump
Matt noted that he will file the terms of impeachment on Tuesday, Jan. 9 local time. To this, he explained that the "disappearance" of the Minister of Defense is terrible, which leads to all the threats to the country and complicates other conflicts in the world.
In addition, many Republican lawmakers began to blame Austin for the incident, believing that his "absence" had weakened trust in the military. These Republican lawmakers have even demanded that all of them, starting with those who lied with Austin, resign immediately and be held fully accountable.
Some of Trump's staunch allies have also posted on social media that Austin should be fired and that he has been missing for a week. Including his boss – the cunning Joe Biden – should also be fired.
However, at present, only the Republican Party has criticized Austin's cover-up hospitalization, and no Democrats have used this matter as an excuse to ask Austin to step down. However, this further illustrates that Austin's hospitalization this time may be directly related to the struggle between the two parties in the United States.
White House National Security Council spokesman Kirby
In the face of the Republican Party's remarks calling for Austin to step down, the White House's response also appeared a little weak. The report pointed out that in the face of many calls for Austin's resignation, the White House's handling method was to ignore it and try to calm the commotion with a cold approach.
Perhaps under the pressure of public opinion, White House National Security Council spokesman Kirby said that there are no other plans at present except for Austin to remain in office, and Biden's primary concern is also Austin's health.
In other words, the White House did not dismiss Austin; even a senior US official said that even if Austin offered to resign, Biden would not accept it; in addition, the Pentagon also responded, saying that Austin has no plans to leave.
Why did the White House not have the slightest intention of firing Austin? You must know that at the beginning, Austin's hospitalization time was also hidden from the White House, and now the White House has cleaned up the mess for him.
US President Joe Biden
Conservative speculation is that if Austin really leaves office, the interests of the Biden administration will be damaged, or if the reason for Austin's hospitalization is exposed, it will be a "disaster" for the Democratic Party.
But the point is that until Republican lawmakers clamored for Austin's resignation, the latter did not appear in public. In other words, the outside world's situation in Austin can only be known from the information released by the White House and the Pentagon.
But from the perspective of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, even if Austin can't show up, and even the public doesn't know his specific condition, what his condition is, whether he is dead or alive, it doesn't matter, as long as this matter can be suppressed temporarily, it will not cause much damage to the Democratic Party.
It's just that, judging from the current attitude of the Republican Party, there are quite a few signs that they want to take advantage of this incident to make a big fuss to the end. In particular, Trump, Biden's fierce rival in this presidential election, and his Trump is also involved, which shows that this is very likely to become an entry point for the Republican Party to attack Biden.
American partisanship
As for whether the Biden administration and the White House can remain calm and resist pressure to prevent Austin from resigning under the bombardment of the Republican Party, it depends on what step the Republican Party intends to take.
After all, as the US Secretary of Defense, Austin's physical condition and hospitalization will all involve the US national defense. Now that it has been "missing" for a week, not to mention the Republican Party, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the voters to explain.