Hours after government officials confirmed that U.S. citizens died in Hamas's terrorist assault on Israel, the Biden administration took to Twitter to provide updates on its efforts to end concert ticket fees, combat "Big Pharma," and spur indigenous green energy projects.
After the National Security Council confirmed Sunday night that the terror attacks killed "several U.S. citizens," President Joe Biden did not release a statement on the ordeal until roughly 4:30 p.m. the following afternoon. His White House did, however, pledge during that time to fight "Big Pharma," defend "women of reproductive age," and stop "unfair charges by hotels, airlines, cable and internet companies, and online ticket sellers." Biden's Energy Department in a Monday afternoon post similarly touted "Tribe-led and DOE-supported energy success stories."
Those posts prompted pushback from Republican members of Congress, who argued that the administration has poorly communicated its response to Hamas's slaughtering of innocent civilians. Biden on Sunday evening hosted a barbecue featuring a live band, one day after Hamas launched the terror attacks. That same day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared and later deleted a message that pushed "for a cease-fire" in Israel. The State Department's Office for Palestinian Affairs similarly called on Israel to stand down in a since-deleted Saturday post, which the department said "was not approved and does not represent U.S. policy."
In addition to the posts, Biden did not make a public appearance on Monday, with the White House ending his public schedule shortly before noon. The Democrat instead addressed American deaths in Israel through a statement. Biden went on to deliver remarks Tuesday afternoon "on the terrorist attacks in Israel," but he is not scheduled on Wednesday to provide a public update on the issue. Instead, Biden is set to deliver a speech criticizing "hidden junk fees," a White House schedule shows.
The White House did not return a request for comment.
The administration's mixed messaging on the attack has also attracted GOP criticism. A group of Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee, for example, sent a Tuesday letter to the White House that said Blinken's post calling on Israel to deescalate tensions emboldened Hamas.
"These initial reactions from your administration are very concerning," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. "Your administration's foreign policy has resulted in a number of national security failures and demonstrated utter weakness on the world stage. We must affirm that Israel has every right to respond to these barbaric acts of terror."
Biden's State Department has not provided an explanation for Blinken's deleted post and declined to do so when approached by the Free Beacon.