Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor and a Republican presidential candidate, ridiculed President Joe Biden's Wednesday trip to Israel, saying it was not "a good performance for him."
Biden came back without Americans who are stranded there and without a plan for getting American hostages out of Gaza, but he likely doxxed a few U.S. special operations forces while he was there and committed $100 million in aid for Gaza — which will get commandeered by Hamas for their terrorist activity, DeSantis said.
"His most famous, I think, quote was about saying Hamas, what, needs to learn to shoot straight? So I don't think it was a good performance for him," DeSantis told reporters Thursday in Anderson, South Carolina.
DeSantis outlined what Biden should be doing: Empowering Israel to weed out Hamas is at the top of the list, along with getting the hostages out.
"I think the question is ... what's he doing behind the scenes? Is he trying to kneecap their ability to go in and end this Hamas problem once and for all, because that's what we have to do," DeSantis said at the kickoff of his Veterans for DeSantis campaign. "Because otherwise, then it's just nibbling around the edges; and you're going to have another cycle of violence. So you got to end it. And they should be empowered to do that.
"I think it should be limited to that. I mean, I'm not saying that we want to see a larger conflict; but that needs to happen," he added.
Further, DeSantis says Biden needs to "snap back sanctions" on Iran and not "send any money to the Gaza Strip."
Biden announced Wednesday that $100 million is going to Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
We know Hamas is going to commandeer that money," DeSantis said in response.
"I'd like to see him say that we're not going to send any money to the Gaza Strip — especially given that we have the hostages that are still there," DeSantis added Thursday. "I'd like to see him push forward more on getting those hostages out of there."
Meanwhile, the White House posted a photo of Biden meeting with apparent U.S. special operations forces on Wednesday night — with their faces exposed. The original caption was thanking "first responders" for their "bravery and the work they're doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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