White House Backtracks on President Biden's 'Yes' Response to Israel Ground Invasion — Claims ‘He Didn’t Hear the Full Question’
The White House was forced to backtrack a response President Joe Biden gave this weekend about Israel.
Oct. 22 2023, Published 9:10 a.m. ET
The White House was forced to backtrack a response President Joe Biden gave this weekend regarding Israel’s anticipated ground invasion of Gaza, RadarOnline.com can report.
The confusion started on Friday when President Biden, 80, was asked about the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas while boarding Air Force One for a trip to Delaware.
“Should Israel delay the ground invasion until you can get more hostages out?” a reporter asked as Biden climbed the steps to Air Force One.
“Yes,” he responded.
But the White House later clarified that President Biden “didn’t hear the full question” and thought that he was asked whether he would “like to see more hostages released” by Hamas in Gaza.
"The president was far away. He didn't hear the full question,” White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said in a statement on Friday night. “The question sounded like 'Would you like to see more hostages released?'”
President Biden said "yes" when asked if Israel should delay their ground invasion against Hamas until more hostages are released from Gaza.
“He wasn't commenting on anything else,” LaBolt added.
Meanwhile, the 80-year-old commander-in-chief still came under fire for his initial response.
“Biden, who got to use the big stairs to board AF1 tonight, says ‘yes’ when asked if Israel should delay its ground invasion,” the GOP group RNC Research wrote alongside a clip of the incident on X. “He is now heading off to the beach.”
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy also commented on the confusion and noted how President Biden could hear the other questions “just fine.”
President Biden met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
“Overnight, there was some real confusion here on the Biden beat as the president, who publicly supports whatever Israel wants to do against Hamas, appeared to confirm reports that privately he is telling the Israelis to pump the brakes,” Doocy said during Saturday’s episode of Fox and Friends.
“But they have now fully walked that back,” he continued. “He is at the beach house in Rehoboth. We don’t expect to see him again for the rest of the weekend.”
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Doocy also said that the incident was “kind of puzzling because [Biden] could apparently hear the first question just fine.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the confusion outside Air Force One on Friday came just hours after Hamas released two American hostages – Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie Raanan.
President Biden secured the release of two American hostages from Hamas on Friday.
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“Today, we have secured the release of two Americans taken hostage by Hamas during the horrific terrorist assault against Israel on October 7,” Biden announced on Friday afternoon.
“Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal these past 14 days, and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear,” he continued.
“These individuals and their family will have the full support of the United States government as they recover and heal, and we should all respect their privacy in this moment.”
John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser, expressed skepticism regarding the release of the two American hostages. Bolton suggested that Judith and Natalie Raanan were only released to “delay” the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
“They’re trying to delay the entry by the Israeli Defense Forces into Gaza to dig in further to create more booby traps for them,” he said, “and it puts the lives of the remaining 200-plus hostages in even further jeopardy.”
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