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Donald Trump backs Israel amid war with Hamas: ‘You’ve got to finish the problem’
Ex-US President claimed Hamas would have never attacked Israel under his presidency and blamed US President Joe Biden for the ongoing war.
Predicting to win big on Super Tuesday 2024, Donald Trump called Fox & Friends to praise Monday's Supreme Court's decision prohibiting states from eliminating him off the ballot and to declare that Israel must "finish the problem" in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
During the interview, co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump if he was "on board" with how Israeli soldiers were managing the Gaza war.
“You’ve got to finish the problem. You had a horrible invasion. It took place. It would have never happened if I was president, by the way,” Trump responded.
The GOP frontrunner further claimed that Hamas would have never attacked Israel under his presidency and blamed Biden for the war.
“This would have never happened. And for another reason — they wouldn’t have done it to me. I guarantee you that. They did this because they have no respect for Biden and, frankly, they got soft,” he sated.
When asked explicitly about Vice President Kamala Harris' requests for a "immediate" cease-fire lasting at least six weeks, Trump stated that he despises “seeing what's happening” and maintained his conviction that there would have been no violence under his watch.
“If things went right in 2020, which they should have but they didn’t for some very bad and sinister reasons, all these people that are dead in Ukraine and Russia and Israel […] people would be leading great lives right now,” he said.
Matt Gertz blasts Trump as Biden says ‘we need a ceasefire’
Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, mocked Trump over claiming that his statement was “garbled”. He said Trump wanted to say that Hamas attacked Israel because the Israelis "got soft" here.
"It's garbled because Trump is generally incoherent but I think Trump is saying that the Hamas attack on Israel happened because the Israelis "got soft" here. He goes on to say that dead people in Ukraine and Russia and Israel would be "leading great lives" if he was in office," Matt Gertz tweeted.
Trump has earlier expressed his support for Israel against Hamas, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis during the October 7 attack.
On the other hand, the Biden administration has been steadfast that Israel has the right to self-defence, and officials have recently stated that Hamas must accept the parameters of a six-week cease-fire that would allow captives to be released and aid to enter Gaza.
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Meanwhile, Biden asserted that the possibility of a ceasefire is “in the hands of Hamas” at the moment.
While boarding Air Force One in Hagerstown, Md, Biden spoke to reporters and said: “It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer. We will know in a couple of days what’s gonna happen. We need a ceasefire.”
