WASHINGTON — The White House declared for the second day in a row Monday that there would be no public appearances by President Biden — moments after the State Department confirmed that at least nine US citizens are among the more than 900 killed by Hamas terrorists during their weekend attack on Israel.
President Biden spoke about the war on camera Saturday afternoon, hours after the terror group swept into Israeli towns from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, slaughtering residents and concert-goers and abducting at least 100 Israelis and foreigners.
Biden, 80, had no public events booked for either Sunday or Monday and faced ridicule Sunday night when his press office confirmed he was hosting a barbecue for his staff with a live band despite the international crisis.
Monday is federally recognized as Columbus Day, so no events such as a daily White House briefing had been expected, though it was possible to change course and hold one.
Biden said Saturday in a three-minute-long speech that “when I spoke with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu this morning, I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of this terrorist assaults.”
The president took no questions after his statement.
Biden’s own actions have come under mounting criticism as Iran’s role in funding, planning and approving the attack has emerged.
Biden in August began the process of unlocking $6 billion in funds — ostensibly for humanitarian use — for Iran as part of a September prisoner swap.
Critics said the funds freed up Iran to increase the flow of funding for regional terrorist groups, though Biden allies insist that’s untrue.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps worked with Hamas since August to scheme up the surprise attack and Iranian officials gave the final green light Oct. 2 during a meeting held in Beirut, senior members of Hamas and the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah told the Wall Street Journal Sunday.
Syrian and European government sources also confirmed Iran’s role in the rampage to The Journal, though the Biden administration has yet to do so.
“This terrorism is funded by Biden’s idiotic release of $6 billion to the Iranians. The Hamas war against Israel is now the second war started under Biden’s failed presidency,” tweeted former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a rematch against Biden, wrote, “THE HORRIBLE ATTACK ON ISRAEL, MUCH LIKE THE ATTACK ON UKRAINE, WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT – ZERO CHANCE!”
It’s unclear whether Biden, 80, will at some point make a symbolic visit to Israel or to a US venue of importance to Israelis to mark the tragedy.
Biden’s re-election campaign recently cut ads featuring footage of his February visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, to depict him as a hands-on commander-in-chief.