MAGA Launches Blistering Attack on Joe Biden After Iranian Strikes

MAGA Republicans have slammed President Joe Biden following Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel this weekend.

Tehran fired more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Syria, that killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals, earlier in April.

The attack, the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel from its own territory, came as tensions in the region have reached their highest since the Israel-Hamas war began six months ago.

American forces helped Israel down "nearly all" of the drones and missiles fired by Iran, Biden said in a statement late on Saturday.

"At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week," Biden said. "Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles."

Biden said America's support for Israel was "ironclad" and that he would convene a meeting of Group of Seven, also known as G7, nations on Sunday "to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran's brazen attack."

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee set to face Biden in November's election, has said on social media that Iran's attack would never have happened if he were president.

"The weakness that we've shown is unbelievable," Trump said. "It would not have happened if we were in office." He then posted clips of a Pennsylvania campaign rally and his comments to his Truth Social platform.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Newsweek that Biden "is the only American president to have directly defended Israel, as he ordered the American military to [on Saturday night].

"He is also the only American President to have set foot in Israel during wartime, in support of our ironclad commitment to their security. Unlike others, he did not attack Israel in the days after 10/7 and has never praised Hezbollah."

Newsweek has contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment via email.

Meanwhile, several Republicans who support Trump also placed blame for Iran's attack on Biden.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Biden's "weak, ineffectual leadership led to this moment."

He added: "Iran was emboldened to attack because Pres. Biden refused to stand up for our ally Israel."

Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt wrote that the attack "would have NEVER happened under Trump."

Iran "has been emboldened by Biden's Presidency," Hunt wrote. "His weakness, his foreign policy disasters, and his abandonment of our one true friend in the Middle East have created a domino effect of chaos which is now sweeping throughout the region."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X: "Biden gave Iran access to $10 BILLION after Hamas attacked Israel. Now Iran has launched an attack on Israel."

Greene was referring to the Biden administration's approval of a sanctions waiver that will allow Iraq to continue to purchase electricity from Iran. The waiver was extended in November, and again last month.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press in November that a rigorous vetting process was in place to ensure the money could only be used for food, medicine, medical equipment and agricultural goods.

Rep. Matt Gaetz said that Israel was better off during the Trump tenure, as the former president recognized Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights.

"Under Trump Israel got the Golan Heights," he wrote on X. "Under Biden Israel got attacked."

The Golan Heights, a strategically situated 400-plus square mile area that overlooks Damascus, was first captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Arab war. In 1973, Syria attempted to take the land back during the Yom Kippur War and during a surprise attack, Egyptian and Syrian troops managed to kill 2,688 Israeli soldiers. Israel, however, prevailed and retained control and annexed the Golan Heights in 1981.

Others noted that Trump was responsible for pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and that the U.S. came close to war Tehran Iran following Iran launching missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq after the U.S. killed General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

"Who destroyed the Iran nuclear deal? Who invited [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to invade Europe and terrorize NATO? Who urged America to abandon Ukraine? Who undermined our Western alliances? Who rush-transferred nuclear tech to the Saudis twice? Trump—HE is the most destructive force in the world," political strategist Lindy Li wrote.

"For all those claiming this wouldn't have happened if Trump were president... This literally happened when Trump was president," Democratic commentator Kaivan Shroff wrote, alongside an article reporting that Iran launched missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq after Soleimani's assassination.

Update 4/15/24, 3:23 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from Andrew Bates.