First Lady Jill Biden has become one of the White House’s most vocal critics of her husband’s lack of action to reduce civilian casualties in the ongoing Gaza conflict. President Joe Biden revealed his wife’s criticism during a meeting with Muslim community leaders at the White House on Tuesday.
Responding to an attendee who said his wife was disappointed he was attending the White House meeting because Biden supported Israel’s war against Hamas, the President said his wife has been pressuring him to help end the conflict. “Stop it, stop it now, Joe,” Biden said the First Lady told him.
While attendees at the meeting were left with the impression that the First Lady was expressing opposition to Israel’s war, the White House later clarified that she was only addressing the lack of effort to reduce civilian deaths. “Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza,” a spokesman for Jill Biden said in a statement. They added: “They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians.”
The First Lady’s criticism comes as President Biden is facing mounting pressure from Democrat lawmakers and voters to step up humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and push Israel to end the war. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), a key ally of the President, has signaled he is open to putting restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel. “If Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale… and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel,” Coons said on Thursday during an appearance on CNN.
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