WASHINGTON (Michigan News Source) – As the news media got caught up in the almost continuous 24/7 news coverage of reporting on the Hamas attacks on Israel, 2024 American presidential candidates got caught up in it as well – but with a focus on comments that former President Trump made about the situation in the Middle East.

With foreign policy brought back to the forefront of the news, much of the talk has shifted from Ukraine to Hamas, Israel and Iran – and our open borders. However, much of the attention of the presidential candidates last week went towards responding to the comments that former President Trump made about Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Here is a recap of what the presidential candidates were talking about last week as the world watched and reacted to the attacks on Israel from Gaza.

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Former President Donald Trump

Trump was interviewed by Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade and the former president said about the attack on Israel, “This could have never happened under the Trump administration.”

Trump also said during a rally of supporters in Florida “Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart.”

In other statements that he’s getting criticized for, Trump also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “let us down” by not participating in but trying to take credit for the 2020 assassination of Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force. Trump also said that Netanyahu wasn’t prepared for the Hamas attacks and called the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, “a jerk.”

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley

Both DeSantis and Haley went on the offense after former President Trump regarding his comments on Israel. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis criticized Trump for calling the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah “very smart” and for criticizing Israel. Gov. DeSantis posted on X: “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.’”

Former South Carolina Governor and former Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said during a rally in New Hampshire that Trump’s comments are why it’s time for a new generation of leaders and that we need to “leave the negativity and chaos and the baggage” in the past. She went on to say, “We can’t have someone who is so clouded with the past that they can’t see the future. Donald Trump was the right president at the right time. I don’t think he’s the right president now.”

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Tim Scott

At a gathering of faith leaders in South Carolina that his campaign organized, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott went after both the Republicans and the Democrats over comments and actions made concerning Israel. He went after Biden’s unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil money and said, “His (Biden) weakness invited the attack, his cash giveaways to Iran helped fund terrorism.”

And in referring to his GOP rivals, Scott said that Trump’s recent comments criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu were “just wrong” and said, “We cannot extend a single message to any of the enemies of Israel, that anyone in leadership stands against, or in opposition to, or questions the leadership of, the prime minister.”

Scott also went after DeSantis and Ramaswamy by saying, “Vivek Ramaswamy has said that the definition of success is reducing America’s support for Israel. Governor DeSantis once dismissed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as just a territorial dispute. The last thing we need is a Joe Biden Republican Party wing on foreign policy.”

Vivek Ramaswamy

Presidential candidate and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy got into some heated discussions on Fox News when talk-show host Sean Hannity pressed the presidential hopeful on many things including comments he has made about Israel, pointing to a recent interview that Ramaswamy had with Tucker Carlson,

Hannity asked Ramaswamy about his comments saying Republicans have “selective moral outrage” at the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas and that some advocates might be swayed by financial incentives. He reiterated his stance on the program and Hannity also pressed the presidential hopeful on his comments saying GOP rival Nikki Haley was corrupt.

Instead of going after Trump, Ramaswamy seems focused on Haley, saying she should be disqualified from being president and accusing her of having “personal conflicts of interest” in foreign policy matters.

At a gathering in New Hampshire recently, Ramaswamy said, “It is sick. Especially when you have a Biden crime family and the White House that has monetized their connections and their foreign policy and sold off our foreign policy. We don’t need to substitute them with a Republican version of the same. I do not want a president anywhere near the White House who’s willing to march us into World War III, as (Haley’s) rhetoric suggests.”

Instead of going after former President Trump like the other candidates, Ramaswamy defended him by saying to POLITICO, “It’s laughable they’re going after Trump for ‘saying the wrong thing’ when he actually *did* more for U.S.-Israel relations than any other U.S. President in modern history.” He went on to say, “Every single Republican presidential candidate is clearly pro-Israel. The real divide is between those of us who are clearly pro-America & there are really only two America-First candidates in this race.”

Chris Christie

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a constant critic of former President Trump, talked with CNN and said about Trump’s comments regarding Hezbollah, “He’s a fool. Only a fool would make those kinds of comments. Only a fool would give comments that could give aid and comfort to Israel’s adversary in this situation.” Christie went on to say that Trump continually makes statements “in the context of himself” and added, “This is someone who cares not about the American people, not about the people of Israel, but he cares about one person and one person only, the person he sees in the mirror when he wakes up in the morning.”

Mike Pence

Former Vice President to Trump, Mike Pence, also chimed in about his previous boss’ comments about Netanyahu. Pence said on New Hampshire radio station News Radio 610, “This is no time for any former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel.”

Pence added, “Hezbollah aren’t smart, they’re evil. But the former president also said when Russia invaded Ukraine in a similar, unprovoked, unconscionable invasion a year-and-a-half ago, he said Vladimir Putin was a genius.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr. had big news on Monday when he announced his third party bid for the presidency, saying he was making a “new Declaration of Independence – from corporations, the media and the two major political parties.” This announcement was met mostly with silence from Democrats who don’t consider him to be a threat – and criticism from the GOP who call him as “very liberal” and even “radical.”

RJF Jr. spent most of the week campaigning instead of joining in to make comments about Trump. In fact, you won’t see Trump’s name much at all on his social media posts. In his campaigning and social media posts, he goes after both political parties in general on most things. In a post on Thursday, RFJ Jr. said on X: “Instead of two parties, we have a uniparty, a monster with two faces loudly bickering with itself as it lumbers over a cliff. At the bottom of that cliff lies the destruction of our country.”

RFJ Jr. has been very supportive of Israel since they were attacked by Hamas. He posted on X: “This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy is unambiguous so that the enemies of Israel will think long and hard before attempting aggression of any kind.” He went on to say, “I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action. America must stand by our ally throughout this operation and beyond as it exercises its sovereign right to self-defense.”

President Joe Biden

President Biden was busy last week dealing with the Israel/Hamas/Iran conflict and fending off the progressives in his party who support the Palestinians. According to Politico, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, along with dozens of other lawmakers, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking him to push Israel to follow international law and for the United States to help establish a humanitarian corridor as the war in the Middle East escalates.

Biden, meanwhile, has remained steadfast, for the most part, in his commitment to Israel, although he also said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was a priority. He said on Friday during an event in Philadelphia, “We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas. And they’re suffering as a result as well.”

As far as commenting on President Trump, it was “The White House” who responded to Trump instead of Biden. Andrew Bates, the deputy White House press secretary, said Trump’s statements were “dangerous and unhinged” and added, “It’s completely lost on us why any American would ever praise an Iran-backed terrorist organization as ‘smart’…”