Tipsheet

Biden's Sending More Aid to Gaza, but That's Not the Only Issue

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  March 03, 2024 1:00 PM

On Friday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration was sending humanitarian aid to Gaza, sort of. Not only are there concerns that such aid will be taken by Hamas, there was confusion as the president said that such aid was being sent to Ukraine, when he really meant Gaza. 

Biden gave such remarks while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday afternoon in the Oval Office. While he and Meloni were discussing support for Ukraine, the discussion also touched heavily upon the Israel-Hamas war and the situation in Gaza.

"In the coming days, we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of--of additional food and supplies into Ukraine and seek to continue to open up other avenues into Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance," Biden said. The official White House transcript left "Ukraine" in there, but put "Gaza" in brackets.

The president made such a slip even though he was clearly reading from a note card.

Many outlets let the mixup go without informing their readers that the president was referring to one war zone when he meant another. The Hill, for instance, merely put Biden's remarks in brackets. NBC News and CNN failed to include that quote in their coverage. CBS News cut off the quote just before Biden mistakenly said "Ukraine." USA Today did mention the mistake, towards the very end of their article on the announcement. 

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One quote many articles focused on was a message Biden had about Israel's role. "In addition to expanding deliveries by land, as I said, we’re going to--we’re going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the--the help they need. No excuses. Because the truth is: Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now. It’s nowhere nearly enough," the president said. He failed to acknowledge that such aid has been stolen by Hamas terrorists in previous instances. 

There's also been a focus on the death of civilians lined up to get food. While there have been falsehoods spread when it comes to claims that the IDF shot and killed civilians, many of them were killed in a stampede, as Michael Brown addressed in a column highlighting "The Latest Despicable Anti-Israel Lie."

During Friday's White House press briefing that took place following Biden's remarks in the Oval Office, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby was forced to clarify that Biden misspoke when he said "Ukraine."

As for concerns about Hamas stealing the aid, Kirby repeatedly mentioned that they will "learn," though he didn't give much of a substantive response beyond that when it comes to preventing such a glaring concern. 

The president's official X account also posted about the humanitarian aid being sent to Gaza, though he at least got the region correct. His post has sent been met with 14,000 replies as many take issue with the Biden administration assisting "both sides" now.

A background press call with senior officials on Saturday also sang the Biden administration's praises for sending such aid to Gaza, as well as used the recent civilian deaths as a push to send more of that aid.

Biden also shared during his Friday remarks that they're "trying to work out a deal between Israel and Hamas on the hostages being returned and--and immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least the next six weeks." 

Kirby had explained during Tuesday's press briefing how this six week ceasefire could lead to something longer. 

It was also during that Tuesday briefing where Kirby had to clarify other remarks that the president made. On Monday, while he was enjoying an ice cream cone in New York City, Biden said "well I hope by the beginning of the weekend," about when a ceasefire would start, before he changed his response to "I mean the end of the weekend." He then added that "at least my national security advisor tells me that we're close. My hope is by next Monday, we'll have a ceasefire."