Tipsheet

We're Getting a Preview of Biden's Plan for Retaliation and People Definitely Have Thoughts

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  January 29, 2024 10:30 PM

Over the weekend, we learned that that three U.S. service members had been killed by Iran-backed terrorists in Jordan. We now know that the three fallen were Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia. Even more heartbreaking is there's been reports that the enemy drone may have been confused for an American one. The news puts President Joe Biden and his administration in quite the quandary, as the world is falling apart while he's running for reelection. On Monday, POLITICO published a piece on how "Biden’s team is blaming Iran for American deaths. How will the US respond?"

In sharing the piece he co-wrote, Jonathan Lemire offered a preview as well as to what that retaliation might look like and when it would come. 

The piece itself also focused on the political concern with Biden's fellow Democrats and how his administration is handling the response:

Within the administration, top aides are trying to thread a needle: Biden is ordering his advisers to present a range of U.S. response options that would forcefully deter other attacks while also not further inflaming a smoldering region, according to two officials granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about private deliberations.

...

The president remained out of the public eye Monday after speaking briefly to reporters a day earlier at a campaign event where he expressed his grief for the loss and vowed retaliation. The two U.S. officials said it was unlikely Biden would say much beyond that publicly until a decision on retaliation was made.

Discussion of Democrats in disarray gets even more pronounced from there, especially when it comes to the concerns that Biden supposedly hasn't done enough for civilians in Gaza when it comes to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Some Democrats close to the president believe he has become unavoidably bogged down on foreign affairs — including trying to manage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has frustrated the White House with his conduct of the war. Though Sunday’s attack will place further strain on Biden, his senior advisers believe that foreign policy presents an opportunity to show his decades of experience, which they believe they can contrast with Trump.

But while affairs overseas don’t often determine presidential elections, there is a risk that rising tumult abroad could prompt voters to seek change at home. Polling suggests portions of the Democratic base — including young voters, voters of color and progressives — disapprove of Biden’s support of Israel during the war and believe he has not done enough to limit the civilian casualties in Gaza.

Biden’s support for Israel has hurt the campaign badly with the sizable Arab-American population in Michigan, and his team is scrambling to find other paths to victory in the battleground state, according to two campaign advisers granted anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly about strategy.

Democrats in disarray is a rather juicy topic, especially when it comes to the concern and desperation highlighted above that those two anonymous campaign advisers give off. But, what has people talking on Monday night is the preview that's now out there.

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In reposting Lemire, Jewish Insider's Josh Kraushaar wondered what the White House was doing with such a move.

People were quick to offer their ideas in the quoted reposts, and many were not too kind to the Biden administration.

In case these foreign policy crises aren't maddening enough, John Hasson posted a timeline on Monday night of the administration's failure to properly deal with Iran.