Fox News host Jeanine Pirro has hit out at President Joe Biden over his response to the killing of three U.S. service members in Jordan.
The trio died in an alleged Iran-backed drone attack on a U.S. military base near Jordan's border with Syria on Sunday. The Shia Islamist insurgent group the Islamic Resistance has claimed responsibility for the strike.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Biden said he holds Iran responsible for supplying the weapons that killed Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, according to a White House transcript seen by Newsweek.
When asked if was worried about a war in the Middle East, Biden responded: "I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for."
Speaking on Fox News show The Five on Tuesday, Pirro reacted to Biden saying he does not want to see tensions in the Middle East escalate, calling him a "wuss on the world stage."
Responding to co-host Greg Gutfeld saying there is a "crisis of confidence" in the president, Pirro said Biden should attack Iran directly and compared his response to former President Donald Trump's ordered killing of Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
"The truth is, the man just does not project—he doesn't project confidence, he doesn't project strength, and we all see it, which is why we always have anxiety every time he comes out," Pirro said. "But the bottom line is, you know, when Trump killed [Qasem] Soleimani, that was the end of it. They [Iran] didn't respond. They knew Trump was serious."
Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
As co-host Jessica Tarlov pushed back on Pirro's claim that Iran did not respond to the killing of Soleimani, Pirro responded: "There was a missile attack, but it didn't start a world war."
"Biden is saying, 'I don't want a world war, I don't want to make a bigger war!'" Pirro contined. "He is such a wuss on the world stage! He signals everything that he is afraid of."
Newsweek has contacted Jeanine Pirro for comment via X, formerly Twitter.
More than 40 other U.S. troops were injured in the drone attack on Sunday, with eight medically evacuated from the base.
In a statement released on Sunday and seen by Newsweek, Biden said "the three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense. And their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation."
"Together, we will keep the sacred obligation we bear to their families. We will strive to be worthy of their honor and valor," the statement continued. "We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt—we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her focus is reporting on issues across the U.S., including ... Read more
