Joe Biden has styled himself as a defender of democracy but, critics say, is setting the worst possible example with his choice of envoy to Athens.
The US president nominated George Tsunis, a hotel developer and Democratic donor with no diplomatic experience, as US ambassador to Greece.
When Tsunis seeks confirmation at a Senate foreign relations committee hearing on Wednesday, he will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the train wreck that was his last appearance there eight years ago.
On that occasion Tsunis was Barack Obama’s nominee for ambassador to Norway. Bumbling and ill-prepared, he admitted that he had never been to Norway and referred to the country as having a president when, as a constitutional monarchy, it does not.
Tsunis also claimed that Norway’s Progress party was among “fringe elements” that “spew their hatred” and was criticized by Norway’s government. In fact, the Progress party was part of the governing coalition.
The hapless nominee withdrew from consideration after causing dismay among Norwegian Americans and earning ridicule on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Now he is getting a do-over that, critics maintain, he does not deserve.
Brett Bruen, who was global engagement director of the Obama White House and recalls Tsunis’s first foray as a “debacle” in which he was “torn to shreds” by Senator John McCain, said: “The notion that he gets a second chance just utterly shocks me because in serious circles of international affairs he’s a punchline.
“So why in the world would you send someone to a significant country like Greece – at a dangerous time – to represent us there who in the eyes of most foreign policy hands can’t keep some fundamental facts straight and does not deserve to be ambassador to Ulaanbaatar, let alone Athens?”
A lawyer, developer and philanthropist, Tsunis has donated to both Democrats and Republicans, including more than $1.3m to Obama in 2012.
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