House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) chided President Joe Biden for suggesting the United States could withhold shipments of weapons to Israel if it launches a full-scale ground operation in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip city where many Palestinians have taken refuge during the war against Hamas.
During an interview with POLITICO on Wednesday, Johnson reportedly accused Biden of reneging on a deal to pass a $95 billion foreign aid bill last month. He said he hoped the president was experiencing a “senior moment” that did not actually convey U.S. policy.
Biden made the comments regarding Israel while appearing for a CNN town hall as he shared insight into his long-standing opposition to Israel conducting a ground operation in Rafah to root out Hamas terrorists amid concerns about more casualties among civilians.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” Biden said.
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In another interview that took place on Thursday, Johnson condemned Biden for signaling that his administration might halt shipments of weapons to a key U.S. ally more than six months into Israel’s fight against Hamas after the group’s deadly surprise attack in October of last year.
“He’s defying the will of Congress and he’s defying what his own top officials in the White House assured me in writing and verbally before that supplemental was passed and even in the days since,” Johnson said of Biden during a “Fox and Friends” appearance.
“This idea of withholding weapons to Israel as a condition of somehow, you know, Joe Biden wanting to micromanage their war effort over their defensive effort is catastrophic policy,” the speaker added.
“It would be devastating to our closest ally in the region, and it would go directly against the will of what the members of this body voted on just several days ago, so they have got to answer the American people in answer to us and we’re on that right now,” Johnson said.