Originally Authored at TheFederalist.com
Swaths of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s social media supporters, corporate media, Democrats, and others dogpiled former President Donald Trump on Thursday for allegedly praising the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah over a rumored attack on a weakened Israel.
If you find it hard to believe that the man who signed the Abraham Accords, moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and has Jewish grandchildren would unironically commend the terrorists who cheered on the Hamas-led slaughter in Israel last week then you’d be right.
In the viral clip, the DeSantis War Room and other DeSantis campaign staff accused Trump of calling Hezbollah “‘very smart’ hours after they attacked Israel.”
The caption from the DeSantis team is severely lacking in context which is ironic because one of the reasons DeSantis became popular enough to launch a presidential campaign was because he effectively pushed back on the propaganda press’s narratives.
What Trump actually said in his Wednesday night speech was that Hezbollah could easily take advantage of the Biden administration’s open worrying that Israel’s northern border was not fortified enough to withstand an assault.
“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. Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart,” Trump began.
Trump paused his point to jab at the people and corporate media who regularly take his words out of context.
“The press doesn’t like when they say, you know, I said that President Xi of China, 1.4 billion people, he controls it with an iron fist. I said he’s a very smart guy. They killed me the next day,” Trump said.
After his tangent, Trump returned to emphasizing how dumb it was for Biden’s defense “jerk” to publicly discuss Israel’s vulnerabilities.
“Whoever heard of an official saying on television that they hope the enemy doesn’t attack in a certain area?” Trump questioned.
The context, however, didn’t matter. The clip was quickly amplified by The Washington Post, disgraced Democrat ally Liz Cheney, and the Biden White House as a means to smear Trump as a terrorist sympathizer.
Even President Joe Biden’s campaign account and personal accounts joined in on the Trump sullying.
“Trump goes after Israel, saying Prime Minister Netanyahu ‘let us down’ and needs to ‘straighten it out’ before praising the terrorists who attacked them as ‘smart,’” Biden-Harris HQ wrote on X.
“Our nation’s support for Israel is resolute and unwavering. And the right time to praise the terrorists who seek to destroy them is never,” Biden captioned his repost.
Trump’s enemies could have easily gone after him for spreading rumors that Hezbollah had already attacked Israel, even though reports today indicated officials in the Holy Land were merely beefing up security at its northern border in case of a future assault. Instead, they twisted his words to suggest that the man who encouraged peace in the Middle East sided with the terrorists.
Trump, who was swift to call the deadliest assault on Jewish civilians since the Holocaust “horrible” and a “disgrace,” who, during his time in office, cut off U.S. financing of Hezbollah-financier Iran, did not praise a bunch of terrorists.
Plenty of politicians, professors, and professional grifters like Black Lives Matter organizations, however, have stood with the terrorists who butchered and burned Israelis and Americans over the weekend.
Critical fire, especially from Republicans, during such a tumultuous time should be aimed at American elected officials and elitists who are openly celebrating Hamas’ brutalism or indirectly funding it.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.