Republicans have taken aim at President Biden in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, claiming the president’s “don’t deterrence” has only emboldened Iran.
“So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says ’Don’t,’ they do,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in a post on X Saturday.
Graham’s comments after Iran launched a barrage of over 300 missiles and drones at Israel Saturday in an apparent response to Israel’s reported role in an airstrike that killed a senior Iranian official in the country’s embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus last week.
Israeli Defense forces and allied militaries had been preparing for the possibility of an Iranian retaliatory strike since the attack, with Israel claiming that roughly 99% of the Iranian weapons fired at the country had been intercepted by its sophisticated defense systems and military allies in the region.
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President Joe Biden speaks to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Biden warned Friday that an attack by Iran on Israel was possible over the weekend, telling reporters his message for the Islamic Republic was “Don’t.”
But Iran carried out its brazen attempt anyway, something Republicans blamed on the president’s “weakness.”
“Biden’s approach with Iran and the Middle East is backwards,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. wrote on X. “Now as we risk entering WWIII, the US must stand by Israel’s commitment to democracy. The president must stand firm, and stop coddling Iran immediately.”
“Foreign policy isn’t complicated. When you signal you might pull support for an ally like Israel, you diminish deterrence. When you diminish deterrence, the enemy feels emboldened to strike,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said on X after the attack.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) listens to testimony during a House Select Committee on Climate Crisis hearing on June 14, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
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Biden’s “Don’t” comment was slammed by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even before the Iranian attack, with the former Trump administration official arguing that Biden’s response was “really dangerous” during an appearance on Fox News.
“Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy,” Pompeo said. “It’s not even a deterrent.”
Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Responding to the attack himself during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, former President Donald Trump said that the U.S. has shown “great weakness” under Biden in the leadup to the attempted strike on Israel.
“I want to say, ‘God Bless the people of Israel.’ They’re under attack right now, and it would not have happened if we were in office,” Trump said.
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Trump, who was well known during his time in office for issuing stern warnings to American adversaries on social media, also took to his own social platform, Truth Social, to repost a 2018 all-caps Tweet in which the then-president warned Iran of severe consequences for threatening the United States.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the White House, Thursday, November 5, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!” Trump said at the time.
For his part, Graham argued that such a strike on Israel would not have happened if Trump were still in office.
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“This would not have happened on President Trump’s watch, and I hope the American people are closely following just how dangerous the world has become in the last three years,” Graham said on X.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.