With war being waged in Israel and a confirmed US death toll of nine so far, President Joe Biden has gone radio silent as he has yet to comment on the loss of American life.
Biden delivered extremely brief remarks on Saturday condemning the Hamas terror attack on Israel, but he maintained a clear schedule on Monday despite confirmation of American deaths in the conflict.
Meanwhile, other world leaders have publicly expressed support for the Jewish state.
Additionally, the president was informed on Sunday that Americans had been killed by Hamas fighting — but Biden still went ahead to host a staff barbecue at the White House with a live band.
On Monday morning, the White House communications office called a “lid,” meaning Biden and his staff would hold no events for the press as the world turned to the US president to hear about the loss of life.
President Joe Biden remained radio silent after news broke Monday that nine Americans had died in a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel over the weekend. The White House has announced a ‘cover’, meaning Biden will not appear before the American people to comment on the loss of life
“You have to chase me out?!? It’s Monday afternoon,’ Donald Trump Jr. said. posted to X when he heard news that the president had no public events for the day.
He added: ‘Our greatest ally in the Middle East is at war, women and children are being beaten and raped in the streets, and our imbecile president is checking out before lunch?’
After intense backlash, the White House was forced to release a detailed account Monday of what Biden is doing to respond to the conflict, including an earlier morning meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, chief deputy – national security adviser. Jon Finer, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zient
“He instructed his team to follow up coordination with Israel on all aspects of the crisis and to continue their work with regional partners to warn anyone who might try to take advantage of this situation,” a statement said. was provided to the press.
“This afternoon, President Biden will speak with several of our close allies about the latest developments in Israel and we will have more to share soon.”
In the past two days, Biden has posted several tweets from the official POTUS account on a wide variety of topics, including student debt relief, taxing billionaires, creating good-paying union jobs and supporting technology innovations.
He did post once on X about the ongoing conflict and wrote: ‘This morning I met with
(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) to express my full support for the people of Israel in the face of an unprecedented and appalling attack by Hamas terrorists.’
“We will remain in close contact in the coming days,” the president assured in the Sunday post. ‘The US will continue to stand with the people of Israel.’
Instead of hearing from Biden on Monday about the American deaths, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates released a statement lambasting Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ronn McDaniel for describing the violence as used an ‘opportunity’ to place the blame on the president.
“At least nine Americans have lost their lives in these brutal terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. Hundreds of additional innocent people have died,” Bates wrote in a statement.
He added: ‘While some individuals like Ronna McDaniel seem to see this loss of life and pain as a great opportunity, most Americans see it as a terrible tragedy.’
“As the administration provides aid to the Israeli Defense Forces, this is a moment in which all Americans, regardless of political views, must stand shoulder to shoulder with one of our closest allies. No one can ever welcome this kind of abhorrent behavior or try to divide our country when we should be united.’
Republicans were quick to claim that Biden’s three-minute remarks on Saturday were not enough to show the extent of American support for Israel.
Hamas terrorists based in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza launched a multi-front terror attack in Israel on Saturday, killing 900 Israelis in the three days of conflict so far.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the White House over the weekend in an apparent show of support for the horrific attacks against the Jewish state
They also blame Biden for the attack, saying his unfreezing of $6 billion to Iran last month in exchange for the release of five Americans held in Tehran is what funded the Hamas attacks.
In particular, Biden announced the release of these funds from the frozen account in South Korea on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks last month.
Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken insisted he had yet to see any evidence Iran ‘directed or was behind’ the Hamas attack.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller echoed the sentiment Monday that there is no “direct intelligence” that shows Iran was “directly involved in this terrorist attack.”
“But that said, Iran has been a longtime supporter of Hamas,” Miller explained. “That is why we have taken action to hold Iran accountable for its support of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.”
“We will continue to investigate what information we can about what directly led to these attacks and whether Iran or any other country may have been involved,” he told CNN. “But at this point we have no evidence to confirm that.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates did issue a statement Monday about the loss of American lives in Israel — but took the brief statement to attack RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Iran’s United Nations mission has denied Tehran’s involvement in Hamas’ terror operation.
It is unclear how many American citizens were injured in the attacks, or whether any are being held hostage by the Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
While the names of those killed have not yet been released, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Monday morning that the agency is in contact with their families “and providing all appropriate consular assistance.”
“We cannot confirm that (Americans were taken hostage) at this point,” he told CNN. “There are reports of that, but there are Americans who are unaccounted for, and our first priority is to locate those Americans, find out what their status is in the coming hours and days.”
As of Monday afternoon, more than 900 Israelis were confirmed dead – and on Sunday it was revealed more than 2,000 had been injured in the attack. This does not include those still held hostage in Gaza, whose number is unknown but believed to be in the hundreds.
Biden not seen publicly for TWO days after making speech lasting just THREE MINUTES as nine Americans confirmed dead in Israel
