Former W. Bush administration official Ari Fleischer tore into President Joe Biden and mocked his visit to Israel following last week’s surprise attack by Hamas that left more than 1,100 dead in the Jewish state.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Fleischer said Biden is incapable of “projecting power” to the enemies of the U.S. and Israel, making his visit pointless.
Also, Hannity said that sources told him that Biden was saying one thing in public about Israel’s military response but something else in private.
“I am told behind-the-scenes by high-ranking officials, sources of mine, that Biden is saying one thing – destroy Hamas – publicly, the right things publicly. Behind the scenes, he’s pushing something very different called restraint,” Hannity said.
“Sean, when America sends something or somebody abroad at a time like this, it’s to project power,” Fleischer began. “That’s why we send aircraft carriers into the Eastern Mediterranean. We’re not sending the SS Minnow; we are sending an aircraft carrier.
“When the president goes abroad, it needs to be a visible, emotional, stern lesson to Iran, to Hezbollah, to Hamas. Don’t mess with America,” he continued.
“Does anybody have confidence that Joe Biden arriving there is going to be the projection of power? No. And if Joe Biden goes — and I am also worried, does Israel need him with all due respect? Israel is planning for a war,” Fleischer said. “Joe Biden being there, what does Israel get from that?
“I just worry that this is an intervention into Israeli affairs, for what reason I don’t know. Everything he wants to accomplish, he can accomplish on a phone call, and there’s also just the physical danger of being there,” the former Bush communications official went on. “I question the judgment of going into Israel at this time. So in all of those, I don’t understand why he is going.”
He added: “Even if it goes perfectly from the White House point of view, I think it’s going to be a hindrance to Israel. Israel has something big to plan right now. And the downside is if President Biden stumbles, if he falls or if he just looks weak, he looks tired, it’s exhausting to fly over there like this, even on Air Force One. And that projects sleepiness. It projects weakness. I worry about all of the above.”
Former President Donald Trump blasted Biden for his Middle East policies, claiming last week that Hamas would not have attacked Israel in the first place if he was still in office.
