In statements made on Monday to an audience in the resort town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, former president Donald Trump charged that President Joe Biden was responsible for this past weekend’s Hamas attack on Israel.
The conflict, in which Israel is currently besieging the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, “happened for three reasons,” according to Trump: Iran’s oil revenue from lax sanctions enforcement, “our country’s perceived weakness” under Biden’s presidency, and the U.S. releasing $6 billion in Iranian funds for humanitarian projects as part of a prisoner swap.
Trump claimed that Biden is “laughed at across the world,” and he offered his own sanctions enforcement and unilateral exit from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal as examples of how, if Americans chose him over Biden in 2024, he would be harsher on Iran.
While doing so, he painted Biden and his administration to be out of touch, pointing out that national security adviser Jake Sullivan had little less than two weeks prior stated that the Middle East is “quieter today than it had been in two decades.”
Democrats and Biden administration officials claim that after Trump removed the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran intensified its nuclear weapons program. Trump’s sanctions also had little effect on Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons. Furthermore, no part of the $6 billion in money, which is Iran’s payments for oil purchases, has been released.
Trump was rebuffed by Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a national co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign.
Veteran and senator from the Senate Armed Services Committee Tammy Duckworth said in a statement published by the Biden campaign that “with every single lie, Donald Trump further demonstrates he is too dangerous for leading the United States on the world stage.”
“The generals as well as other military leaders that served under Trump — those in a position to know — repeatedly stated that he made our country less safe, not more,” she added. “Day in and day out, he continuously disdains the Veterans and service members who gave their lives to defend our fellow Americans, and we shouldn’t take his abhorrent and blatantly self-serving remarks as anything other than lies,” said one observer.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential candidacy, frequently places the blame at Biden’s feet in line with the majority of GOP presidential hopefuls. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, stated this past weekend on Fox News that the conflict offers a “great opportunity” for GOP candidates to contrast themselves with Biden.
The U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas, which took over the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip after winning local elections in 2006, was principally responsible for the multifaceted assault. Former U.S. officials claim that since Iran has historically supported Hamas, the bombing is clearly the work of an Iranian-backed operation.
In addition to maintaining its sanctions against Hamas and its pledge to support Israel, the Biden administration denounced the attack. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the Pentagon is relocating a warplane strike group and an aircraft carrier strike group closer to Israel in order to express solidarity for the American ally.
The deployment of those soldiers, according to U.S. officials who spoke to NBC News on Monday, was also meant to explicitly tell Iran to “stand down” in the event that Tehran considers using the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah against northern Israel.
Despite the fact that there is no proof that Biden has ever committed a crime, Trump repeatedly depicted Biden during his statements on Monday as the main protagonist in a “crooked” family criminal business and, in contrast, as “mentally incapacitated,” “dumb as a rock,” and an Obama puppet.
Trump emphasized Obama’s middle name when he claimed that his boss, Barack Hussein Obama, was to blame for the issues that led to the conflict in Israel.
Trump expressed concern about the likelihood that terrorist strikes could occur on American territory both in his address and on his Truth Social account.
The same individuals who stormed Israel are flooding record numbers of Americans via our TOTALLY OPEN SOUTHERN BORDER, he added. “Are they preparing to launch an attack within our nation? This was done to us by crooked Joe Biden & his boss, Barack Hussein Obama.
This claim, according to a senior U.S. official who is knowledgeable about the subject, is untrue. The actual number of people who may be affiliated with Hamas who cross the southern border of the United States is unknown, but the official claimed that it is manifestly wrong to claim that Hamas supporters are “pouring” across the border or have grown in number recently.
Trump made no secret of his general dislike for Biden, accusing the president of doing so once more without providing any proof. Trump expressly stated that his condition would warrant him utilizing the authority of the presidency to go after political rivals. Trump is currently facing four distinct trials in federal and state courts.
“That means I might do that if I win,” he replied.