During a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled no punches during questioning of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The tense clash between the two sides came after Senator Cruz slammed the Biden administration for its “worst foreign policy failure in modern times,” referring to its response to Iran and the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. It began with the congressman’s accusation that the White House was indirectly funding the attack.
“Mr. Secretary, you presided over the worst foreign policy disaster of modern times,” Mr. Cruz began. “When Joe Biden became president, he inherited world peace and prosperity. We now have two wars going on simultaneously: the worst war in Europe since World War II; And the worst war in the Middle East in 50 years, both of which I believe were caused by the consistent weakness of this regime. ”
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“Your foreign policy is the exact opposite of what a reasonable American foreign policy should be toward our friends and allies, who this administration has consistently undermined, weakened, and attacked. ” he added. “And toward our enemies, this administration has consistently shown appeasement and actually funneled billions of dollars to America’s enemies who are trying to kill us.”
The two sides have clashed over the Biden administration’s efforts to stop Israel from attacking the Gaza Strip city of Rafah as part of efforts to root out Hamas terrorists among the Palestinian population, and Mr. Cruz has disclosed information about the terrorists. He demanded to know whether it had been provided to Israel. If only they would refrain from attacking.
Mr. Blinken denied any such action was taking place and tried to further extend President Biden’s support for Israel, but Mr. Cruz stopped him, saying he was not interested in “campaign speeches.”
Mr. Cruz continued to press him, but Mr. Blinken called the idea “misleading and wrong” and said the U.S. government would share information if it was available.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. (Getty Images)
Cruz then accused Blinken and the State Department of repeatedly telling Israel that they “won’t kill” Hamas terrorists, citing a tweet the department said it had deleted shortly after the Oct. 7 attack in which it called on Israel “not to retaliate militarily.”
“Senator, I visited Israel five days after October 7th, and I have been there seven times since then. Starting with President Biden, what Israel needs to do to protect itself from Hamas and address the threat. No one has gone to such great lengths to ensure that,” Blinken said, to which Cruz countered.
Asked if the administration had stopped sending weapons to Israel, Cruz said, “That’s simply wrong. … It’s ridiculous.”
While Blinken denied that the administration had cut off arms supplies, Cruz began pressing him about funding to Iran.
Cruz noted that Iran’s oil production has increased since President Biden took office, and the country is developing more “ghost” ships to transport oil around sanctions against Iran.
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This photo released by the Iranian Presidential Office shows President Ebrahim Raisi with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev at the inauguration of the Qiz Qarashi (Azerbaijani Girl’s Castle) dam on the border between Iran and Azerbaijan on Sunday, May. Attending the meeting. 19th, 2024. (Iranian Presidential Office, via AP)
“This administration desperately wants a new deal with Iran. You’ve been pouring money into Iran since day one,” Cruz said, referring to the administration’s “refusal to impose oil sanctions.” .
“In a very real sense, this administration, you, President Biden, funneled $100 billion to a murderous, genocidal regime that funded these attacks, and that funded the October 7 attacks. I did,” he added.
Mr. Blinken quickly fired back, calling Mr. Cruz’s comments “grossly wrong” and “disgraceful,” to which Mr. Cruz responded: “Why?”
“We have repeatedly attacked Iran and imposed more than 600 sanctions,” Blinken said.
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“Why are we selling 10 million barrels a day when we’re producing 300,000 barrels a day?” Cruz answered.
Blinken said Iran is trying hard to evade sanctions and that the administration continues to “add sanctions” to sanctions every day, even as the country is “determined” to sell more oil. insisted.
“We didn’t make that decision when Trump was president,” Cruz said.
