NEWSWEEK
MAGA Republicans have slammed President Joe Biden following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel this weekend.
Tehran fired more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Syria, that killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals, earlier in April.
The attack, the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel from its own territory, came as tensions in the region have reached their highest since the Israel-Hamas war began six months ago.
American forces helped Israel down “nearly all” of the drones and missiles fired by Iran, Biden said in a statement late on Saturday.
“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said. “Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”
Biden said America’s support for Israel was “ironclad” and that he would convene a meeting of Group of Seven, also known as G7, nations on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee set to face Biden in November’s election, has said on social media that Iran’s attack would never have happened if he were president.
“The weakness that we’ve shown is unbelievable,” Trump said. “It would not have happened if we were in office.” He then posted clips of a Pennsylvania campaign rally and his comments to his Truth Social platform.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and a Trump spokesperson for comment via email.
Meanwhile, several Republicans who support Trump also placed blame for Iran’s attack on Biden.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Biden’s “weak, ineffectual leadership led to this moment.”
He added: “Iran was emboldened to attack because Pres. Biden refused to stand up for our ally Israel.”
