Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told Newsmax on Wednesday that the lack of a speaker in the House of Representatives could have played a role in the Saturday attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"From experts I've spoken to and folks on the ground in Israel and intelligence folks, this clearly has been in process, in planning for quite some time," Perkins said during an appearance on "Wake Up America." "I would say, though, that, when we sift through all of this in the days to come, it could be that the opening may have been there because we had a place in America right now where we have Congress paralyzed."
"There's several factors," he continued. "I mean, you've got Israel and Saudi Arabia discussing a peace agreement based upon the Abraham Accords, Iran does not want that, so there's a lot of factors here. But I think, going back to your point, we need to pray that America will have the leadership because we need Congress to keep the White House in check. Let's not forget their policies of releasing $6 billion of frozen assets that helps fuel the largest state sponsor of terrorism, so we're challenging people to pray."
Perkins said that House Republicans met Tuesday night for a forum of speaker candidates and "the meeting was described as a very thoughtful conversation."
"I think the weight of the moment really has settled upon the members and 99% of the members want to do what is best for America," he said. "These are leaders. They're thoughtful, they're intelligent and they represent people all across this country that have different backgrounds, so bringing them together to agree on one leader is difficult. Right now, I would say that we're kind of divided.
"You've got about a third for Steve Scalise, a third for Jim Jordan, a third that are undecided," he said, assessing the speaker's race. "There's a lot of folks praying today that they would come to a consensus and they would select a leader, given what you just laid out. They can't even pass the resolution that's been drafted, expressing support for Israel. So, this is a critical moment and, again, the weight of the moment is resting upon them so … I'm hopeful … that they will find a way forward this week. I don't know if it's going to happen today, but I think it will happen this week."
Commenting on President Joe Biden's Tuesday speech — four days after the devastating attack — Perkins said that "words need to be followed with actions."
"I think we need to refreeze these assets of Iran and put them on notice if we see hostages killed, if we see more action taken, we're going to hold Iran accountable, who is the main funder of Hamas," he added.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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