In a rare primetime address from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden delivered a speech Thursday night with regard to Israel's fight against Hamas as well as the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
There was at least one big fan of Biden's remarks -- Fox News senior analyst Brit Hume, who heralded the commander-in-chief's commentary as "one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency," according to Breitbart.
In his roughly 15-minute primetime speech, President Biden first discussed the situation in Israel and his support for the Jewish nation's response against the atrocities committed by the radical jihadists of Hamas, though it wasn't long before he transitioned to also discuss his support of Ukraine's defense against the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy -- completely annihilate it," Biden said as he proceeded to make the case for why the American people should, like him, support both Israel and Ukraine.
The president also used the speech to preview a request he will send to Congress for more military aid to both nations, as well as to seemingly lecture the American people against engaging in antisemitism or Islamophobia.
According to Mediaite, Brit Hume was part of a Fox News panel that analyzed President Biden's primetime address, and he said, "I think it may be remembered as one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency. He was firm, he was unequivocal, he was strong, as he has been particularly in recent days before he went to Israel and while he was over there."
The former host turned semi-retired analyst continued, "I was struck by the fact that he spent as much time as he did on Ukraine and I think it was a good thing that he did because the aid for Ukraine package that he’s talking about, and further aid to Ukraine beyond that, is in jeopardy."
"And I think that he was hampered a little bit in that effort by the fact that he dare not really mention the best reason -- I mean, he mentioned broadly speaking the best reason for sticking with it in Ukraine, which is, 'What would the rest of the world and its evildoers think if we pulled out of there?'" Hume said, "because that comes on the heels of his having pulled out of Afghanistan, which arguably emboldened all of our adversaries around the world, particularly Vladimir Putin."
He also noted with some surprise that Biden seemed to have directly called out Iran, something he's previously been "loathe to do so" in earlier remarks about the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, and Hume concluded, " On two important counts, I think he did remarkably well and was quite strong, quite firm."
Fox’s @brithume on Biden’s address to the nation: “One of the best - if not the best - speeches of his presidency.” pic.twitter.com/cBhShcEsvB
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) October 20, 2023
Yet, while Hume and others at Fox News cheered on President Biden's speech and the revelation of his plan to link together military aid for both Israel and Ukraine in a request to Congress, that didn't go over quite as well with some Republican members of Congress, according to Breitbart.
In a social media post, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said, "What Biden is doing is disgusting. He’s using dead children in Israel to sell his disastrous Ukraine policy to skeptical Americans," and added, "They are not the same countries, they are not the same problems, and this effort to use Israel for political cover is offensive. Hell no."
A similar sentiment was shared by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), who said in a social media post, "A day ago, I told you Biden was going to demand Ukraine and Israeli defense funding be bundled. Tonight, Biden confirmed it."
The congressman added, "Here’s what I will confirm: We must protect the American homeland. We must reject Hamas and their allies in Congress. And we must stop funding the failed proxy war in Ukraine. The appropriations must be separate. FULL STOP."
