Jonathan Ernst/Portal
President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room in the East Wing of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC on Wednesday, October 11.
CNN –
President Joe Biden’s graphic description of the horrors in Israel was intended to underscore “the utter depravity” of Hamas’ attack on civilians, the White House said, even though he had not personally seen or confirmed the images he described.
Biden told a gathering of Jewish leaders in the Indian Treaty Room on Wednesday: “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I never really thought I would see and validate images of terrorists beheading children.”
Later that evening, an administration official told CNN that neither Biden nor the administration had seen images or confirmed reports of children or infants beheaded by Hamas. The official clarified that the president’s comments referred to public comments from media and Israeli officials. Since taking office, Biden has deviated from the script several times and made comments that later required clarification from his aides, including on Taiwan and Russia.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Wednesday that babies and toddlers had been found “beheaded” in Kfar Aza, Tal Heinrich. CNN could not independently verify this report, and Hamas said media reports of attacks on children were false.
On Thursday, Netanyahu showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was visiting Israel, horrific photos of babies whose bodies had been burned beyond recognition, as well as the body of a third bloodstained infant.
During a news conference, Blinken became emotional as he described seeing images of the victims of the Hamas attack that were “almost incomprehensible.”
“A baby, an infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people were burning alive in their cars or in their hiding places,” Blinken said.
“It’s beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, let alone actually see and, God forbid, experience,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby cited those photos as he explained Biden’s remarks a day earlier.
“Certainly the President’s comments yesterday … underscore the utter depravity and barbaric nature with which these terrorists have murdered and slaughtered innocent Israeli civilians,” he said.
“And that underlines even more why we have to stay with Israel – and that’s exactly what the president was talking about yesterday. We must continue to ensure they receive the support they need,” he continued.
Kirby was further cautioned about the importance of maintaining factual accuracy when describing events on the ground, saying the White House takes “seriously the need to be as factual and certainly truthful as possible.”
But he said the reality is that the full extent of Hamas’ depravity is still becoming known.
“We all need to be prepared that more horrific images will come to light and that there will be some pretty harsh reports that we will all have to digest. “This isn’t over yet,” he said.