House Speaker Mike Johnson rips ‘anti-Israel’ Biden for ‘placating the antisemitism in his base’
House Speaker Mike Johnson tore into President Biden, accusing him of shifting into an “anti-Israel” direction in a bid to pander to his far-left flank.
Against the backdrop of fierce pressure from progressives and mounting humanitarian concerns, Biden, 81, has begun speaking out more forcefully against the current Israeli government and calling for a cease-fire.
“Democrats are weak on Israel as well, and it’s their support for Israel. It’s rather stunning to us that there’s this dramatic shift. Hamas is holding more than 130 hostages,” Johnson (R-La.) chided during a press conference Wednesday.
“Shamefully since Oct. 7, Joe Biden has transformed into an anti-Israel president. There’s really no other way to characterize it.
“He’s more concerned, seemingly, with placating the antisemitism in his base than standing with our historic and vitally important ally,” Johnson continued.
A White House spokesperson later hit back at Johnson, countering that he “knows better.”
“The United States’ commitment to Israel’s self-defense remains ironclad. And he has backed that up each and every day since October 7th,” the spokesperson said.
“That he wants to see Israel conduct their operations more carefully and allow for more aid to get into starving people doesn’t diminish one iota his commitment to Israel’s future security. Indeed, it only proves the point.”
Despite his recent high-profile tiffs with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden affirmed Wednesday that his support for Israel will remain “ironclad” as officials fear Iran is gearing up for military action.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad — let me say it again, ‘ironclad,'” Biden told reporters at the White House.
“We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he added.
Still, relations between the White House and Netanyahu have grown icy.
Last Thursday, Biden held a call with the prime minister and demanded a cease-fire in the war against Hamas to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal enclave.
Top officials in his administration have scrambled to help broker a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, but have run into hurdles given fresh questions about how many are still alive.
“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said in an interview with Univision — taped last week — that aired Tuesday.
Thus far, Hamas has rejected all known offers from Israel.
The 81-year-old president has also warned Netanyahu against invading the refugee-dense southern Gazan city of Rafah without an adequate plan for civilians.
Netanyahu has vowed to forge ahead nonetheless, dubbing it one of the last major strongholds of Hamas, and has claimed he has a start date in mind.
Biden and his allies have knocked Johnson for failing to move a supplemental package featuring aid to Israel and have demanded that be paired with aid to Ukraine.
Johnson also took aim at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranked elected Jewish official in the US, for publicly calling on Israel last month to hold new elections.
Schumer had panned Netanyahu as an obstacle toward peace in the region. The Israeli leader is facing growing political tumult at home, with thousands calling for new elections earlier this month.
“No one has forgotten, of course, that Chuck Schumer did the unthinkable by opining on and meddling in Israel’s elected leadership. I mean, it’s just, these are unthinkable developments,” Johnson continued.
“It’s wrong and it’s dangerous, and it shows the Democrats are losing their moral clarity.”
Biden’s support for Israel has rankled much of his progressive base. Back in February over 100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to protest his support of Israel.
Since then, that trend has continued, including in states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Connecticut and elsewhere.
Biden has also been greeted by anti-Israel demonstrators during some of his public events across the country.
Arab and Muslim leaders have also clashed with the White House as the administration has attempted to extend an olive branch to them at various times.
Israel began its military response to Hamas in the wake of the bloody Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the terrorist group abducting over 230 hostages.
Around the same time that Johnson slammed Biden on Israel, the president blasted the speaker for not taking up a bill to replenish military support for war-torn Ukraine.
“The war in Ukraine comes to an end by the House leader allowing a vote. There’s overwhelming support for Ukraine among the majority of Democrats and Republicans. There should be a vote now,” he said.
