Chris Cuomo Rips Biden for ‘Mixed Message’ on Israel, Letting Hostages Become an ‘Afterthought’: Political Pressure ‘Not an Excuse to Be Weak’
NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo excoriated President Joe Biden for sending a “mixed message” about his support for Israel and letting the hostages taken by Hamas become an “afterthought” on Thursday, the same day Biden called for a ceasefire in Gaza during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I know that the war in the Middle East is a major concern for you in the election, and I think that explains why you misplayed it the way you did today,” began Cuomo. “You gave a mixed message. You talked tough, what sounded like a threat to your main ally in the region. And then you said you’re giving them more weapons. You’re treating the war against Israel as if it were another political point of compromise. ‘This is wrong. But this is wrong. And we need to do better here. And there has to be change and blah, blah, blah. Ceasefire.’ A lot of words, a lot of conditional language, a lot of half-speak, a lot of appeasement in a situation that is not about balance. It is about realities.”
He continued:
And I get the pressure from the left. I get it, and I get how tight the race is. And I get how worried you are that you’re not going to have the same base you had the last time. But that is not an excuse to be weak. There’s a primary reality, okay? We seem to have forgotten it. Hamas is a terror organization. You designated them as that. They stole people. They need to give the people they stole back to us, to Israel, first. The hostages have become an afterthought and that is wrong. And the reason it has happened is even more wrong. The reason it has happened is because other political exigencies and agendas have overtaken their relevance. The aid workers being hit. Horrible. Matters, of course. Deserves attention, absolutely. But also makes the lack of attention to the hostages apparent.
Cuomo went on to call for an immediate explanation for the Israeli strike that killed aid workers with the World Central Kitchen as well as to reiterate his point that the first step toward any improvement in the conditions in Gaza would need to be the return of the hostages.
” You’re asking Israel to do what you never would and I don’t know who else has. Pulling back under threat, existential threat, meaning they want you exterminated,” he argued. “And by the way, you don’t get your people back first. And it does feed the idea — I know you hear this, especially you, Tony [Blinken] and I know I hear it because I know who’s talked to you about it –that it feeds this malignancy, that Jews are treated differently. That Hamas is given more of a break than your main ally. Why even mention ceasefire before they give back the hostages?”
“What you were saying today was a mixed message that made nothing better. I may have pleased your left flank that is hyper-sympathetic to the suffering in Gaza. And there’s nothing wrong with seeing the humanity in that,” concluded Cuomo. “But that’s not your job. Your job is to do something about it. And if you want to help it stop, deal with the suffering and do it smart. That’s why you’re running for office. And if you keep it like today, you’re right: This issue may beat you.”
Watch above via Chris Cuomo on X.
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