President Joe Biden has been exceptional in handling the multiple international crises that are occurring on his watch, his staff wants us to believe.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, a reporter asked White House spokesman John Kirby to provide a sense of how he is “balancing” the crisis in the Middle East.
“Well,” Kirby responded.
When asked to provide more details, he said, “If you want me to give him a report card, A+. He’s Commander-in-Chief, that never stops. And the duties and responsibilities are literally global. We are one nation that has truly global responsibilities, and he’s managing it all.”
Watch the video below:
Top Biden spokesman John Kirby says he'd give Biden an "A+" on managing the international and domestic chaos that has taken place during his presidency pic.twitter.com/032OYgIXCJ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 24, 2023
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of over 1,300 people in Israel and took hundreds more hostage, Biden has largely said the right words about the attack, calling it “pure unadulterated evil,” and vowing to “make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of itself.”
The day after the attack, the Pentagon announced it was sending the USS Gerald R. Ford and four destroyers to the Eastern Mediterranean to deter other actors such as Hezbollah from attacking Israel.
Biden has also been clear about what happened and the fact there is no moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel. The president also stood firmly with Israel in shooting down claims it bombed a hospital in Gaza.
And last week he gave one of the best speeches, if not the best, of his presidency when he spoke in depth about what happened in Israel and why it is in the United States’ interest to continue providing support.
At the same time, there have been some worrying signs from within his administration — and the president himself — that raise concerns about how long he will support Israel and give it the space it needs to respond to Hamas’ barbarism.
Within hours of the news of the attack, members of his administration were calling for a cease-fire. And on Monday, Biden seemed to suggest he would support a cease-fire once the hostages are released. Additionally, administration officials are reportedly raising concerns with Israeli officials about their plan for a potential ground invasion in Gaza.
He also pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank without any kind of guarantees it would go to civilians or making it contingent on the return of hostages.
A cease-fire sounds like a humanitarian win. But a cease-fire now is a win for Hamas. How could it be that barbarians can break out of Gaza unprovoked and rape, massacre, and kidnap civilians, and then the situation simply returns to the status quo pre-Oct. 7?
Hopefully, Biden will continue to support Israel after the atrocity inflicted on it — the same way he continues to support Ukraine — and will not let the shock and horror of what happened on Oct. 7 fade with time only to pressure Israel to agree to a cease-fire before it accomplishes its objective.
On another front, Biden has tried to deter others from joining the fray by sternly telling them, “Don’t,” which has not really worked perfectly. Hezbollah has traded fire with Israeli forces in the northern part of the country. The White House also said on Monday that Iran has been “actively facilitating” attacks on U.S. military bases by its proxies.
Overall, Biden has not completely fallen flat in his management of the crisis in Israel, still, an A+ grade is a little inflated — especially considering his handling of other crises like Afghanistan in 2021. But then again, we are going into the third year of dealing with price inflation, so why not inflate his foreign policy grade while we’re at it too?
