Former Obama aides slam Biden for response to Gaza airstrike that ‘makes him look weak’: Speechwriter says Joe ‘deserves no credit’ for being ‘privately outraged’ as he ‘refuses’ to stop Israel from killing citizens
- Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau ridiculed Biden’s stores for being “privately outraged.”
- Former Obama national security spokesman Tommy Vietor urged the administration to ‘demand accountability’
- Former Obama campaign manager David Axelrod said the bombed aid convoy should be a “bright red line.”
Former aides to former President Barack Obama expressed their disgust Wednesday, detailing President Joe Biden’s private anger behind the scenes over an airstrike that killed aid workers in Gaza.
“The president doesn’t get credit for being ‘privately outraged’ while still refusing to use force to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people,” former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote on X. ‘These stories just make him look weak.’
Favreau responded to one on Wednesday story from Politico, noting that Biden was “privately outraged” by Israel’s deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy delivering food to victims of the Gaza war. There were seven emergency workers killed in the bombing, including an American citizen.
Pod Save America host and former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau said Biden ‘looked weak’
People stand near a wrecked car belonging to the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK)
Biden delayed in publicly condemning the attack on the World Central Kitchen Convoy just hours after it occurred.
Other Obama alumni have increasingly expressed frustration with Biden for unilaterally siding with Israel without making concrete demands of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“I’m glad that U.S. officials are outraged by the IDF massacre of World Central Kitchen workers (at least in the background), but there must be consequences for it to matter,” said former national security spokesperson, Tommy Vietor. wrote about X. ‘Demands accountability and more aid trucks to Gaza. Stop transferring weapons.”
The Biden administration is currently considering an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel, which would include dozens of F-15 aircraft, according to reports.
Vietor previously criticized Biden for flying to Israel and hugging Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on the tarmac to show solidarity with Israel, calling it “a mistake from the start.”
“So far they’ve had this approach called the ‘hug Bibi strategy’ where Biden basically says he’s going to disagree with Netanyahu privately but doesn’t want to show any light in terms of public messaging,” Vietor said on the Pod Save America podcast in February.
“Stop transferring weapons,” wrote Obama’s former national security spokesman, Tommy Vietor
Former Obama campaign chief David Axelrod said the strike should be a “bright red line.”
Former Obama campaign manager David Axelrod did not officially mention Biden but called the bombing of the aid convoy a “bright red line.”
“Israel has the right to defend itself against barbaric acts of terror, and not to indiscriminately kill innocents or brave men and women working to save them from hunger,” he said. wrote on X.
On Tuesday evening, Biden issued a statement just hours after the strikes against the food organization founded by chef Jose Andres, noting he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the news.
A senior US official expressed concern to Politico about Biden’s reluctance to challenge Israel more directly.
“It’s just rinse and repeat with the Israelis. The American political system cannot or will not draw a real line with them and that is unfortunate,” he said anonymously.