President Biden had a somewhat tense exchange with his White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
This incident occurred when Biden was being questioned about Israeli actions in response to a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza following a recent attack by Hamas on Israel. In the aftermath of this attack, Israel implemented measures such as cutting off electricity, supplies, food, and water to Gaza, which had experienced significant casualties, including a brutal loss of nearly 1,100 citizens.
One reporter aboard Air Force One asked: “You said you were very blunt with the Israelis on the need to get humanitarian aid to Gaza or what exactly?”
“On everything. Ha ha ha,” Biden said in response. At that point, Jean-Pierre appeared to interrupt, prompting Biden to snarl, “Don’t!”
“Sorry, sir,” she appeared to say in response. (see video below)
At that point, Biden changed the subject to helping evacuate Americans from the region. “I’m hopeful we can get some Americans out, as well, of Gaza, and hopefully, we will continue to work toward getting other Americans out through other means, as well,” he said.
As was reported last week, about a week after Hamas sent thousands of rockets into Israel and invaded communities near the Gaza Strip, Biden’s State Department announced it is ready to begin charter flights out of the country for Americans who wish to leave.
However, American citizens will have to pay for those flights, even as hundreds of thousands of people are being cared for in U.S. cities around the country after illegally crossing into the country.
“[I]t’s a failure once again, on the Biden administration,” Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast in an interview that aired Friday. “The same thing happened in Afghanistan when you know, countless Americans were stranded there in Afghanistan when Biden pulled our military out and allowed the Taliban to take over the country.”
“And now we have Americans stranded in Israel. And then we’ve got, we think 27 Americans have been murdered by Hamas, and approximately 14 are unaccounted for, likely held, as you know, by Hamas, and we don’t know what their condition is,” she continued.
“We don’t have their whereabouts. So yes, there’s so much to be concerned about. The message that’s been sent over and over again to the American people from Joe Biden’s administration and all of the Democrats in charge is ‘you’re not safe if you are overseas, and you’re not safe at home,’ because they’ve allowed our border to be invaded,” she added.
The State Department defended charging for the chartered flights.
“The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas, including U.S. government personnel and their dependents. The State Department has teams communicating 24/7 with U.S. citizens and providing them assistance through phone calls, an online form, and the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program,” a State Department spokesperson told Just the News.
“U.S. citizens in need of assistance should complete the crisis intake form on travel.state.gov, and we will continue to provide updates to U.S. citizens who have registered via our online crisis intake form as information becomes available,” the person continued.
“U.S. law requires that departure assistance to private U.S. citizens and third-country nationals generally be provided via a loan from the U.S. government. It requires that U.S. government coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens or third-country nationals be provided ‘on a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable,’” the spokesperson noted further. “U.S. citizen and third-country national passengers on U.S. government-coordinated evacuations are generally required to sign a promissory note, which is a form attesting to their agreement to repay the U.S. government.”
“The note explains the conditions of the loan, the repayment process, and other terms. Upon their return to the United States, private U.S. citizen and third-country national passengers will be billed by the Department’s Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services (CGFS),” the spokesperson added.
“The amount billed will be based on the cost of a full-fare economy flight, or comparable alternate transportation, to the designated destination(s) that would have been charged immediately prior to the events giving rise to the evacuation,” they said.
