President Biden was "caught" on a hot mic Thursday night revealing a private conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing to say he had told him they would have a "come to Jesus" moment soon.
Mingling on the House floor after his State of the Union address, Biden spoke with Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg looked on. Bennet said he had just returned from Jordan and encouraged the president to "keep doing what you're doing on the humanitarian stuff" regarding the Israel-Gaza war.
Biden then appeared to say, adding "don't repeat this" to the group, "I told him, Bibi [Netanyahu,]… you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment." Blinken chuckled at the comment; the term "come to Jesus" tends to refer to a moment where someone has a moment of major realization.
An aide or agent near Biden appeared to warn him there was a camera lingering nearby, and Biden then said, "I’m on a hot mic here. Good. That’s good." He added to Blinken he would talk to him later.
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The White House didn't respond to a request for comment about the moment that went viral on social media.
Given the camera hovering around Biden as he spent several minutes talking with various members of Congress after the address, he may have purposefully "accidentally" leaked his frustrations with Netanyahu, as the Gaza war has become a political sore spot for him. Last month, a report emerged that Biden had privately disparaged Netanyahu over their discussions and his handling of Israel's war.
Israel's war on Hamas and the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has triggered intense criticism from pockets of the left, with accusations that Biden is supporting "genocide." Progressives have organized protest votes against him in recent Democratic primaries in a potential warning sign for his election hopes in swing states.
During his State of the Union address, Biden castigated Hamas over its Oct. 7 attack on Israel and called it a vile terrorist organization, but he also admonished Israel to "protect innocent civilians in Gaza" and not make humanitarian aid a "secondary consideration or a bargaining chip."
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Biden announced Thursday he was directing the military to "lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters."
Biden's speech was notably political, repeatedly ripping into "my predecessor" without actually naming former President Trump, his likely 2024 opponent this fall.
It was well-received on the left, with Democrats and liberal journalists gushing over the address. Some even declared Biden's performance put his age issues to rest.
