Prominent Republicans laid into the Biden administration for empowering Iran on Saturday, just hours after Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel and sent large groups of terrorists surging across the Gaza border.
The historic attack on Israel comes just weeks after the Biden administration agreed to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenue in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. While the Biden administration insisted that the revenue could only be used for humanitarian purposes, Iranian leaders made clear after the deal closed that they would use the revenue how they saw fit.
As Iran is Hamas’ primary financial backer, a number of influential Republicans lawmakers and primary candidates swiftly drew a connection between the administration’s indulgent approach to the anti-American regime and the terrorist organization’s willingness and ability to carry out its most complex and sprawling operation in decades.
Former president Trump, the current frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary, wasted no time in attacking the Biden administration for its handling of relations with Iran.
“These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force,” Trump said in a statement released by his campaign. “Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration. We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible. Here we go again.”
In addition to unfreezing Iranian oil revenue, the Biden administration has also sought to improve relations with Palestine by providing aid. On Friday, on the eve of the Hamas invasion, Secretary of State Antony Blinken quietly released $75 billion in aid to the United Nations Palestine refugee agency.
Senator J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) similarly drew a direct connection between the U.S. aid and the attack on Israel, pointing out that, while the Biden administration insists the funds can only be used for humanitarian purposes, the money frees up the Iranians and Palestinians to unleash chaos and violence in the Middle East.
As we watch this horrible situation in Israel unfold, Americans must face a stark truth: our tax dollars funded this.
Money is fungible, and many of the dollars we sent to Iran are being used to now kill innocent people.
This must stop.
Israel has every right to defend…
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) October 7, 2023
Florida governor Ron DeSantis made a similar point, saying that Israel is “paying the price” for President Biden’s incompetence.
“Iran has helped fund this war against Israel and Joe Biden’s policies that have gone easy on Iran has helped to fill their coffers. Israel is now paying the price for those policies. We are going to stand with Israel. They need to root out Hamas and we need to stand up to Iran,” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement posted to social media.
Israel is now under attack by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists. Iran has helped fund this war against Israel and Joe Biden’s policies that have gone easy on Iran have helped fill their coffers.
We are going to stand with Israel as they root out Hamas and we need to stand up to… pic.twitter.com/FENQtAxiDE
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 7, 2023
Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.) accused Biden of funding the attacks on Israel. “The truth is though, Joe Biden funded these attacks on Israel,” Scott wrote in a post on X.
“America’s weakness is blood in the water for bad actors, but this is worse than that. We didn’t just invite this aggression, we paid for it. Iran is the biggest funder of Hamas. This is the Biden $6 billion ransom payment at work,” he added.
Former vice president Mike Pence blamed Biden as well as the ascendant isolationist streak in the Republican party for the mayhem.
“This is what happens when [Biden] projects weakness on the world stage, kowtows to the mullahs in Iran with a $6 Billion ransom, and leaders in the Republican Party signal American retreat as Leader of the Free World,” Pence wrote on social media.
Several other Republican primary opponents stopped short of directly attacking the Biden administration, but did note the Iran connection in social-media posts responding to the attacks.
Hamas has declared war on Israel on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret and the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
Make no mistake: Hamas is a bloodthirsty terrorist organization backed by Iran and determined to kill as many innocent lives as possible.
The reports out…
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) October 7, 2023
I am appalled by the barbaric and medieval Hamas attacks. Shooting civilians and kidnapping children are war crimes. Israel’s right to exist & defend itself should never be doubted and Iran-backed Hamas & Hezbollah cannot be allowed to prevail. I stand with Israel and the U.S.…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) October 7, 2023
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson denied that the unfrozen Iranian oil revenue contributed to the attack in a statement posted to X.
“I can’t comment on 2024 because of the Hatch Act. But I can clarify the facts: 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,” Watson wrote. “These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation.”
Biden condemned the “appalling assault on Israel by Hamas terrorists” in a statement and said that the U.S. stands “ready to offer all appropriate means of support” to Israel.
At least 70 Israelis have been killed in the fighting and at least 908 have been injured, according to Israel’s emergency service.