President Joe Biden mocked Jim Jordan this week when asked about the GOP congressman’s failure to become House Speaker after two separate votes over two days, RadarOnline.com has learned.
President Biden’s sarcastic response came on Wednesday as the 80-year-old commander-in-chief was preparing to depart Tel Aviv and return to Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, another reporter – New York Times writer Peter Baker – asked President Biden about the alleged bombing of a hospital in Gaza that some sources said killed more than 500 Palestinians on Tuesday.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas initially blamed Israel for the attack, while Israeli officials blamed Hamas for the strike.
President Biden also told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the attack appeared to be “done from the other team.”
“About the hospital, sir – people in the region are upset about the hospital and don’t necessarily believe you or the Israelis that they didn’t have anything to do with it,” the Times reporter asked. “Do you have a message to people on the streets right now?”
“Well, I can understand why in this circumstance they wouldn’t. I can understand that,” Biden responded. “But, I would not, you notice, I don’t say things like that unless I have faith in the source from which I’ve gotten it. Our Defense Department says that it’s highly unlikely that it was Israelis.”
“And so that’s why if you notice, I didn’t say it first. I wanted to make sure that I knew,” the president continued. “And look. And I’m not suggesting that Hamas deliberately did it either.”
President Biden was also scheduled to meet with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine after he visited Tel Aviv, but that summit was abruptly canceled following the hospital explosion in Gaza on Tuesday.
Back home, the U.S. House of Representatives remains in chaos as Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan failed to garner enough votes to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy following McCarthy’s removal from the role on October 3.
Jordan lost an initial House Speaker vote on Tuesday by 20 Republican votes, and ultimately lost a second House Speaker vote on Wednesday by 22 Republican votes.
“We’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” Jordan told reporters on Wednesday after he once again failed to secure the House Speaker role.
President Biden’s remarks on the matter from Air Force One on Wednesday echoed his comments following McCarthy’s ouster earlier this month.
“That’s above my pay grade,” Biden said at the time.