US President Joe Biden said in an interview that he had warned the Israeli government not to attack the Israeli city of Haifa, in what appears to be the latest blunder by the aging president and renewed concerns about his mental state.
In an interview with Nexstar Media’s Reshad Hudson published Wednesday, the 81-year-old president detailed his plans to win back pro-Palestinian voters while continuing to support Israel in its conflict with Hamas.
Biden claimed that in addition to meeting with pro-Palestinian activists, he “made it clear to the Israelis: don’t go to Haifa,” which is actually a port city in northern Israel.
BIDEN: “I made it clear to the Israelis — don’t move on Haifa!”
Haifa is also the major city *IN* Israel. pic.twitter.com/BdNgoDlGkM
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 18, 2024
The president then got stuck, seemed to lose his train of thought, and talked about the Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend.
Instead of warning Israel against an attack on its own city, the US president apparently wanted to refer to Rafah, a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip that has become the last refuge for displaced civilians living in the besieged enclave.
In recent weeks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have reportedly deployed extra artillery and armored vehicles near Gaza City in preparation for a large-scale ground offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also vowed that “no power in the world” would be able to stop the IDF’s advance into Rafah, home to more than a million Palestinians, and which West Jerusalem says is a stronghold of Hamas militants.
Biden’s latest blunder was widely mocked online, with many calling it “severely embarrassing.” David Friedman, the former US ambassador to Israel, jokingly suggested that “Israel should give in to Biden’s demand not to attack Haifa”, while former New York state representative Dov Hikind claimed that “it is very likely that Israel will refrain from attacking Haifa”. .
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marija Zakharova also responded to Biden’s statement, writing on Telegram that the US president should ban himself from running in the 2024 elections.
“This would be funny if this man wasn’t directing billions of dollars and colossal amounts of weapons into wars around the world” Zaharova wrote.
According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in February, 86 percent of American voters believe that Biden is too old to be president of the country and expressed concern about his cognitive state. Just over 60 percent of voters shared similar concerns about Biden’s main rival, former President Donald Trump. The two will face each other in the presidential election on November 5.
