Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich called out President Joe Biden over his foreign policy choices Thursday on Fox News, saying he “refuses” to “recognize reality.”
Gingrich appeared on “Hannity” to discuss Biden’s recent calls on the Middle East, with Fox News host Sean Hannity alluding to how Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the country needed to begin limiting the scope of its counteroffensive against Hamas, according to Axios. Hannity questioned Gingrich’s thoughts on Biden foreign tactics, to which the former House Speaker called out Biden and other officials, saying the president was “out of touch with reality.” (RELATED: Biden Signs Executive Order To Sanction Israeli Settlers In The West Bank)
“Look, he’s totally out of touch with reality. Take the clip you just had from secretary Austin. If he truly takes full responsibility, he should resign. I mean, it’s nonsense to say, ‘Oh yea, this whole thing was totally screwed up and it’s my fault, now let’s go to the next topic.’ You have a secretary of defense who’s clearly incapable of running the department. You have a president who is not a commander-in-chief, he’s an appeaser in chief,” Gingrich stated.
The former House Speaker continued to call out Biden and his administration on their “weak” stance both with foreign governments and at the U.S. southern border. Gingrich additionally stated that he believes Biden made a comment to the Israelis because it would be “dangerous” to attack Iran in any way. (RELATED: ‘Make Trump’s Day’: Former Trump Adviser John Bolton Warns Biden His Latest Proposal Will Sink Reelection Bid)
“You’ve had 150 plus attacks on Americans in the Middle East. To the best of our knowledge, the defense department had no plans — had not thought this through even though the first attack was back on October 18th. You have Biden who is as weak with Iran as he is on the border. So you have a president who is sort of the epitome of being out of touch with reality, of being weak, and of just plain lying. He would pick on the Israelis because it’s dangerous to do something directly to the Iranians,” Gingrich stated.
“And the truth is that this president and his administration aren’t quite sure that they want Ukraine to win. They’re certainly not sure they want Israel to win. They definitely do not want to get involved in a fight with Iran. They say it all the time. We get hit, we lose several young Americans, and immediately the spokesperson for the defense department says we do not want a war with Iran. The Iranians are at war with us. The Iranians are trying to kill us. And yet you have a president who absolutely refuses to recognize reality.”
As pressure from Democrats for Biden to call a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war continues, his administration has been looking at options to recognize Palestine as an independent state, U.S. officials informed Axios. The recognition would reportedly be to help normalize relations between Israel and other Middle East Arab Nations.
Biden additionally signed an executive order Thursday which will impose sanctions on foreign individuals residing in Israeli settlements within the West Bank who have allegedly committed violence against Palestinians. The residents in question are believed to be mostly Orthodox Jewish Israeli citizens, with possibilities of high-ranking Israeli government members being affected. Soon after the executive order was issued, the State Department announced it had sanctioned four Israelis.