Though the statement President Joe Biden gave Tuesday about Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians was far more pointed regarding the situation and supportive of Israel than the brief, bumbling remarks he gave Saturday, the overall response from the Biden administration to date has to many, to put it mildly, been sorely lacking and quite frankly unacceptable.
To further prove the point, we turn to a State Dept. briefing held earlier where spokesman Matt Miller and Associated Press reporter Matt Lee had a heated exchange on the issue of the $6 billion in Iranian assets Biden unfroze as part of a hostage-freeing deal with Iran that was first reported on in July, but which became official in September.
Since the attacks began, Republicans and other staunch supporters of Israel have been accusing Biden of essentially helping to fund the atrocities being committed by Hamas, pointing to the $6 billion hostage-swapping agreement and how it paved the way for Iran to further fund attacks on U.S. allies in the region. Relatedly, some House and Senate Republicans are now calling on Biden to refreeze those assets in light of the Israel-Hamas war.
Over the weekend, Biden National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson insulted everyone’s intelligence by declaring that, “Not a single cent from these funds has been spent, and when it is spent, it can only be spent on things like food and medicine for the Iranian people,” while adding, “These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation.”
What she conveniently left out though was that the funds are fungible, which means holding them in the bank solely for “humanitarian aid” frees up Iran to use existing funds they have on hand for terrorism.
WATCH: Matt Lee tries to explain in elementary terms to State Department Spokesman Matt Miller that money Biden unfroze for Iran is fungible. Miller tries to shift blame to Trump. Fireworks ensue: pic.twitter.com/D7MjGZSEZS
— Dylan Housman (@Dylan_Housman) October 10, 2023
via joemiller