Trump Criticizes Netanyahu
In a speech at Club 47 in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, President Trump (we don’t call Obama “Former President Obama”, do we?) spoke about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
After noting the things he had done for Israel as President, such as moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and pointing out how the situation there and elsewhere had deteriorated under President Biden, Trump commented on the current conflict in Israel. Trump pointed out Israel’s lack of readiness, and noted that its adversaries were intelligent. He also lamented that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu refused to help when Trump targeted Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
DeSantis Attacks Trump
In what appears to be a desperation move to turn around his floundering campaign, Governor Ron DeSantis decided to attack Trump for, as he put it “attack[ing] our friend and ally, Israel”. DeSantis concluded,
As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are.
Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as “very smart.”
As… pic.twitter.com/408e82OVDP
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 12, 2023
What DeSantis Pretends Not To Get
Of course, Trump didn’t attack Israel; he just criticized the country’s current leadership that got caught with its pants down–something Israelis themselves have been doing. In reality, Trump is more popular than DeSantis in Israel, as he is everywhere else–they even named a settlement after him in the Golan Heights, Trump Heights.
Netanyahu was happy to bask in Trump’s popularity when Trump was President, but he congratulated Biden before the votes were all counted in 2020. Like DeSantis, who ran against Trump, who had endorsed him twice, Netanyahu was disloyal to Trump, and Trump doesn’t forget that sort of thing.
This kind of campaign strategy is one of the reasons DeSantis currently trails Trump by 45 points in the RealClearPolitics poll average.
