On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Andrea Mitchell Report,” White House National Security and Communications Adviser John Kirby said President Joe Biden agrees with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) He repeatedly wavered as to whether he would do so. remarks Schumer gave a speech calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “obstruction to peace” and said Biden gave a “good speech.”
“In the last hour, the president seemed to stand by Senator Schumer’s comments, which he called a ‘good speech,'” host Andrea Mitchell said. That’s praise from the President of the United States in the Oval Office. It was clearly well thought out. ”
Kirby replied: “Well, Andrea, as you know, the President has great respect for Leader Schumer. And he also respects the passion that Leader Schumer spoke about yesterday. And when it comes to Chuck Schumer. He knows where that’s coming from. And as the President said, Andrea, the sentiments that Leader Schumer expressed in a very passionate speech yesterday are shared by so many Americans. As president, he will continue to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet as he has in the past…to ensure that more humanitarian aid is channeled and alleviates the suffering of the people of Gaza. We know that Israel has a right to defend itself, and we will continue to help it do so. , they also have a special obligation to take care of innocent civilians, and we will continue to talk to them about that as well.”
Mitchell said, “The president had a choice in what words he used. By calling it a ‘good speech’ and saying that he understands Chuck, he respects him and gives Chuck Schumer a good speech.” I can say that I understand the passion and opinions of many Americans. Does he agree that Prime Minister Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace? ”
“The president knows that the people of Israel get to decide who their elected government representatives are. That’s what democracy is all about, and he respects that. And he To the prime minister, we think things can be done differently, things can be done better, things can be done a little more firmly to get more help to the people of Gaza. They’ve been frank and candid about how to do this and reduce the number of civilian casualties. Lo and behold, these two have no problem being honest with each other. And the president has done that. I can say with certainty that I did it.”
Mitchell said, “That’s a private thing. And, of course, those differences have been expressed by others and by Secretary Blinken. But does the president of the United States think that the Israeli prime minister is an obstacle to peace?”
“The president will continue to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet to do everything possible to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza,” Kirby responded. Now, look, we’ll be honest with you, Andrea, there have been times in the last few days, in the last few days, in the not-too-distant past, when it was hard to believe that the Israelis had done enough to do what they could and should have done. There are several obstacles to progress in terms of getting the food, water, medicine and fuel they need to work to increase the level of trucks coming into Gaza. And we’ve been very upfront about that. ”
Mitchell then said, “I’ll just tell you the answer, I couldn’t answer that question three times. It’s okay. That was your answer.” We moved on to a discussion about launching an attack.
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