UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Human Rights Watch has criticised Joe Biden, U.S. president and Western leaders on Thursday for their weak defense of democracy as well as failing to address the challenges posed by climate change and COVID-19 pandemics to inequality, poverty and racial inequity.

Contrary to Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Executive Director of Human Rights, who described former U.S. president Donald Trump as an “embraced friendly autocrats”, Biden was elected to office in January 2021 and pledged to place human rights at its center.

Roth said in Human Rights Watch’s Annual World Report that Roth sold arms to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Israel “despite persistent repression.”

Roth stated that “Other Western leaders showed similar weakness in defense of democracy,” naming former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Roth stated that Biden seemed to “lose his voice” when it comes to public denial of grave human rights violations during important summits.

He wrote that the U.S. State Department had occasionally protested against repression of certain countries and the Biden administration implemented targeted sanctions in extreme cases on officials responsible. However, the powerful voice of President Obama was frequently absent.”

U.S. officials defend the Biden administration’s records, claiming that diplomats frequently raised human right concerns with foreign leaders including during hard talks with enemies like Russia or China.

If democracies want to win the global battle against autocracy their leaders need to do more than highlight the inevitable flaws of autocrats. Roth stated that they must make a more compelling case for democracy rule.