White House Asked Point Blank About Pro-Ceasefire Protesters Calling Biden 'Genocide Joe'

Forbes Breaking News

Adm. John Kirby reacts to pro-ceasefire protesters calling President Biden "Genocide Joe."

Transcript

00:00 The Press: Thank you.

00:01 And second question.

00:02 Protesters here in D.C. and New York, across the

00:04 country, they've settled on a nickname for the

00:06 President.

00:08 They've been calling him "Genocide Joe."

00:09 They've rooted on the gates.

00:11 Do you have a response from the White House to

00:13 that nickname that they've settled on?

00:14 Mr. McFaul >> We're not worried about nicknames

00:16 and bumper stickers.

00:17 I mean, it's First Amendment free speech.

00:20 The President's focused on, as he wrote in his op-ed,

00:25 on making sure that we can continue to support Israel

00:28 as they fight a terrible terrorist group, Hamas,

00:33 and as we all work together to get humanitarian

00:35 assistance in and get people out, including

00:37 hostages.

00:39 I said this the other day.

00:40 Again, people can say what they want on the

00:44 sidewalk, and we respect that.

00:46 That's what the First Amendment's about.

00:48 But this word "genocide" is getting thrown around in

00:50 a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks.

00:54 What Hamas wants -- make no mistake about it -- is

00:59 genocide.

01:00 They want to wipe Israel off the map.

01:01 They've said so publicly on more than one occasion.

01:04 In fact, just recently.

01:05 And they've said that they're not going to stop.

01:08 What happened on the 7th of October is going to

01:09 happen again and again and again.

01:11 And what happened on the 7th of October?

01:13 Murder, slaughter of innocent people in their

01:16 homes or at a music festival.

01:18 That's genocidal intentions.

01:20 Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in

01:22 Gaza.

01:23 Yes, the numbers are too high.

01:25 Yes, too many families are grieving.

01:27 And yes, we continue to urge the Israelis to be as

01:29 careful and cautious as possible.

01:31 That's not going to stop.

01:32 From the President, right on down.

01:34 But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian

01:38 people off the map.

01:39 Israel's not trying to wipe Gaza off the map.

01:42 Israel's trying to defend itself against a

01:45 genocidal terrorist threat.

01:46 So when we're going to start -- if we're going

01:48 to start using that word, fine.

01:50 Let's use it appropriately.

01:51 Okay, way in the back.

Category

Transcript

Recommended