House Speaker Mike Johnson said he felt betrayed by President Biden’s threat to withhold US weapons shipments to Israel and expressed hope the remark could be chalked up to a “senior moment.”
“I hope I believe hes off script,” Johnson (R-La.) said in a upcoming episode of Politico‘s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast.
“I dont think thats something that staff told him to say. I hope its a senior moment, because that would be a great deviation in what is said to be the policy there.” 3 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he hoped President Biden’s recent threats to withhold weapons shipments to Israel were merely a “senior moment.” MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Citing concerns over the mounting civilian death toll in the Jewish state’s war against Hamas, the 81-year-old commander-in-chief told CNN’s Erin Burnett in a prime-time interview Wednesday night that the US would stop sending munitions to Israel if it invades the densely populated southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden said of US arms shipments.
“Its just wrong. Were not gonna were not gonna supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”
Over GOP objections, Johnson worked with the Biden administration and House Democrats to pass last month’s $95.3 billion aid package for the war-torn nations of Ukraine and Israel and provide for the defense of Taiwan. 3 In a prime-time interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday, Biden said the US would stop sending weapons shipments to Israel if the country invades the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Getty Images
In response to the bill’s passage, several of Johnson’s Republican colleagues — led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — mounted an unsuccessful attempt to jettison the House Speaker from his leadership post, which he’s held since the bruising ouster of his predecessor Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last October.
Speaking just hours after he survived the attempt to strip him of the gavel, Johnson told the podcast hosts that he heard reports of plans to slow weapons shipments to Israel even before Biden’s comments on CNN, but had been assured by Biden administration officials that the reports were incorrect.
“And my reaction honestly was: Wow, that is a complete turn from what I have been told even in, you know, recent hours, the Speaker said in response to hearing Biden’s unexpected about-face. 3 Johnson said on a Politico podcast that he felt betrayed by Biden’s statement, and expressed concern he was reneging on a deal the two had struck to pass last month’s $95.3 billion foreign aid package. X
“I mean, 24 hours ago it was confirmed to me by top administration officials that the policys very different than what he stated there. So I hope thats a senior moment.”
Johnson said Biden’s interview comments flew in the face of promises he made to him as they hammered out a deal to secure the package’s passing.
He said the White House told him the delayed shipments Biden was referring to were from “earlier weapons tranches” and had “nothing to do with the supplemental aid package that you all passed.”
However, Johnson said he considered Biden’s statement a betrayal.
