Former Vice President Mike Pence lit into former President Donald Trump on Thursday for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and praise of Hezbollah, just days after the attack on Israel.
“This is no time for any former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel,” Pence said on a New Hampshire radio station.
Speaking on News Radio 610 ahead of a two-day campaign swing in New Hampshire, Pence took aim at Trump’s remarks the previous night, in which the former president called Hezbollah “very smart.”
“Hezbollah aren’t smart, they’re evil,” Pence said. “But the former president also said when Russia invaded Ukraine in a similar, unprovoked, unconscionable invasion a year-and-a-half ago, he said Vladimir Putin was a genius.”
Pence added that while Trump has “been critical” of Netanyahu, he considers him a friend.
Pence’s comments follow his broader criticism of his rivals on foreign policy in recent days. Speaking in Iowa this past weekend, he criticized “voices of appeasement like Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis that I believe have run contrary to the tradition in our party that America is the leader of the free world.”
But in a primary where lower-polling rivals have been mostly cautious in their criticisms of the frontrunner, Trump’s remarks on Wednesday seemed to offer an opening.
In addition to Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X that “it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel.”
And President Joe Biden’s White House pounced on Trump’s remarks, calling them “unhinged.”
“We don’t comment on 2024,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. “Statements like this are dangerous and unhinged. It’s completely lost on us why any American would ever praise an Iran-backed terrorist organization as ‘smart.’ Or have any objection to the United States warning terrorists not to attack Israel. Especially now as Israel is fighting back against one of the worst acts of mass murder in the country’s history. This is a time for all of us to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel against ‘unadulterated evil.’ That’s what the President is doing as commander in chief.”