Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, April 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump blamed the “lack of American strength and leadership” during the Biden administration for the death of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Trump lobbed a series of insults at US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting that the pair wasn’t forceful enough in attempting to secure the release of American hostages held captive in Gaza. He asserted that stronger US leadership would have saved the life of Goldberg-Polin, who was found along with five other hostages over the weekend in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hamas terrorists had executed them prior to a raid by Israeli forces.
“We grieve the senseless death of the Israeli Hostages, horrifically including a wonderful American Citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, murdered by Hamas due to a complete lack of American Strength and Leadership,” Trump posted on social media. “Make no mistake — This happened because Comrade Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe Biden are poor Leaders. Americans are getting slaughtered overseas, while Kamala is disparaging and making up lies about Gold Star families, and Biden is sleeping on the beach on this 16th consecutive day of vacation. They have blood on their hands!”
Goldberg-Polin, who was born in the United States and moved to Israel at age 7, was abducted on Oct. 7 while at the Nova music festival with his best friend, Aner Shapiro. Shapiro, who fielded three grenades from the roadside bomb shelter the two were hiding in, was one of 1,200 people killed that day by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists. Apart from Goldberg-Polin, 250 others were kidnapped to Gaza.
Trump argued that Biden and Harris’s poor “judgment has not only put lives at risk, but is directly responsible for unnecessary deaths that should have never happened.”
The former president claimed that Goldberg-Polin’s death was representative of the consistent ineptitude within the Biden administration, as evinced by the “debacle” of the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Trump argued that the US is “not safe under Joe Biden,” and “will be less safe” if Harris, the Democratic nominee and his opponent in the 2024 presidential election, wins in November.
“This terror would have never happened if I were President, and it will stop the day I am back in the Oval Office. America will be Strong Again, and that will make the World Safe and Secure!” Trump said.
Biden and Harris both issued statements lamenting the murder of Goldberg-Polin and expressing outrage at Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza.
“Doug and my prayers are with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents, and with everyone who knew and loved Hersh,” Harris said in a statement. “Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands.”
Harris continued, “I strongly condemn Hamas’s continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’s depravity is evident and horrifying. The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel — and American citizens in Israel — must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza. The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’s rule for nearly two decades.”
Biden expressed similar sentiments in his statement.
“I am devastated and outraged. Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on Oct. 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’s savage massacre. He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the word,” Biden said.
“[I] am heartbroken by the news of his death,” he continued. “It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Goldberg and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, appeared at the Democratic National Convention last month to call attention to their son’s abduction and urge an immediate hostage and ceasefire deal.
News of the death of Goldberg-Polin and the other five murdered hostages over the weekend ignited widespread outrage and protests throughout Israel, with civilians demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finalize a Gaza ceasefire deal to return the remaining captives home.
On Monday, Biden issued his own criticism of Netanyahu, arguing that the Israeli leader is not doing enough to secure a ceasefire deal and free the remaining hostages. However, Biden insisted that “we’re very close” to achieving a final agreement. He also added that he will continue “to push” for the release of the remaining American hostages in Gaza.
“Yes. I have spoken to the American hostage … I spoke to his mom and dad, and we are not giving up. We are going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you,” Biden told reporters on Monday.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas. Since then, the US, Egypt, and Qatar have attempted to broker a more enduring ceasefire. Hamas has repeatedly rejected proposals accepted by Israel.
Ninety-seven hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
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