We’ve seen some on the left mouthing off about a ceasefire and attempting to pressure the Biden team and other Democrats to make it happen between Israel and Hamas.
The Biden team has, up to this point, repeatedly rejected all such calls for a ceasefire.
But at a fundraiser in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, Biden was interrupted by a protester standing up in the audience and screaming for a ceasefire. You can see that video on X here.
The protester, reportedly a rabbi, was shouted down by other people in the room.
I don’t know if Biden was influenced by that protester, but later in the event, he announced that he was in favor of a “humanitarian pause,” according to reports.
Biden was interrupted at a fundraiser in Minneapolis tonight by a protester calling for a ceasefire. He responded that he supports a humanitarian pause to allow for the release of hostages. “I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said,…
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 1, 2023
“I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said, per pool reports.
Maybe it’s picky, but words have meaning. The people being held by Hamas are not “prisoners” — “prisoners” implies that they did something worthy of being held in prison. They’re hostages and/or kidnapped victims of the Hamas terrorists.
But what does that pause mean? A couple of hours to get people out safely? Or a nicer term for a ceasefire so it doesn’t look like you’re caving to Hamas. Does Biden even know?
According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Biden also said he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a ceasefire.
Not sure exactly what this means, but Biden also said: “I’m the guy that convinced Bibi to call for a ceasefire to let the prisoners out. I’m the guy that talked to Sisi to convince him to open the door."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 1, 2023
According to Collins, Biden said, “I’m the guy that convinced Bibi to call for a ceasefire to let the prisoners out. I’m the guy that talked to Sisi to convince him to open the door.”
So it sounds like Biden doesn’t understand the difference. Does this mean he is really asking Netanyahu for a ceasefire? That would be incredibly clueless and only serve to empower Hamas. That would give them time to rearm so they could attack again. But being for a ceasefire would be consistent with Biden, who is always wrong and squishy about everything.
Did he actually say that to Bibi? Or is that just Joe telling tales again? If he did say it, it’s exhibiting he doesn’t understand what he’s doing. But if he’s making it up, that’s bad too. What does he mean about convincing Sisi to “open the door”? That seems to be a reference to the Egyptian leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It’s unclear whether he’s talking about letting aid in or Americans out. Hamas let a handful of Americans leave Gaza on Wednesday, but there are still hundreds who Hamas is not allowing to leave.
As usual, we’ll have to see if the White House further explains this or tries to walk it back and clean it up.
