Hamas is winning the propaganda war and Joe Biden is helping them do so. The longer the Israel-Hamas war goes, the more wobbly Biden gets.

Biden’s support among Arab American voters has plummeted over his handling of the war. Biden delivered a strongly pro-Israel speech several days after the massacres in Israel by Hamas on October 7. On October 25 Biden held a press conference and questioned the numbers of deaths that Hamas was reporting.

Hamas is a terrorist organization and Biden’s skepticism was warranted. Hamas deals in propaganda to present themselves in the best light and playing victim to Israel’s response in self-defense is standard procedure. Hamas is not the victim here, it is the innocent Israelis who were murdered, raped, burned alive, and taken hostage on October 7. Biden, to his credit, said the quiet part out loud – Hamas is not truthful in its rhetoric.

But, it’s re-election time and Muslim Americans and Arab Americans are not happy with Biden’s support of Israel. He met with five Muslim American leaders on October 26 and vowed to “do better.” The meeting was scheduled to last for 30 minutes and ended up going on for an hour. The community leaders told Biden about people they know who are affected by the massacre.

At the time Biden said, “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.” “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war,” he added.

During the meeting, Biden was urged to show more empathy toward Palestinians. Biden is reported to have hugged one of the men as the meeting ended.

Biden has been told that Muslim voters are not inclined to vote for his re-election in 2024. They won’t vote for Trump, either, he has been told. So, that likely means they will stay home and Biden will lose in important areas like Michigan due to its changing demographics. The Muslim vote is coveted by Team Biden to help with his re-election. Biden needs to win that battleground state.

We’ve seen Biden wobble in his commitment. Initially, some in his administration put out tweets that called for a cautious response to the horrendous attacks on October 7 and those were taken down when the blowback made them realize what a mistake their hot takes were. Biden’s response was slow. He finally delivered a speech on October 10 and it was well-received. Since then, the criticism from progressives has weakened his spine. Now Biden is calling for continuing to pursue a two-state solution and at this time, that is about as tone-deaf as he and his administration can get. This is not the time. It is impossible to imagine that a two-state solution will ever happen at this point, or that it should. The top priority must be the destruction of Hamas.

It is reported that it was Kamala Harris who insisted that Biden’s remarks about Islamophobia be included in his remarks in support of Israel.

The Biden administration is split between those who support Israel and the younger progressives in the administration. Biden is taking credit for easing some of Israel’s military moves against Hamas. That is a disturbing development. Biden knows nothing about war and is consistently wrong on foreign policy. Just look at his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. His focus is on re-election.

The division inside the White House is to some degree between Biden’s senior longtime aides and an array of younger staffers of diverse backgrounds. But even top advisers said they recognize the conflict has hurt America’s global standing. “We’re taking on a lot of water on Israel’s behalf,” one senior official said. Still, Biden’s aides noted that his public statements have become increasingly direct on the responsibility Israel has to minimize civilian casualties and to allow aid into Gaza, even as he declines to call for a cease-fire as many liberals want.

The White House also insists it has influenced Israel’s military tactics, pointing out that more than 100 aid trucks a day on average are getting into Gaza and that Israel is now allowing in some fuel. One senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss secret diplomacy, said that after the United States dispatched three senior military officers in late October to advise the Israelis on strategy, they sent only about a third as many troops into Gaza as they had initially planned.

Some around him say that Biden should have taken a more nuanced approach in his initial support of Israel. That is exactly the wrong opinion. Israel is the only democracy in the region and America’s support of Israel is long and unwavering. Obama was not a strong supporter of Israel and it is to Biden’s credit that he rose to the occasion and delivered his speech. This is a time of moral clarity. There is no middle ground here.

That is why it is particularly disturbing that the report is out now that Biden apologized for not taking Hamas propaganda at face value. He promised to do better and voiced disappointment in himself to the Muslim leaders. That indicates he will continue to soften and try to interfere in how Israel defends herself against those who are trying to wipe out the Jews and Israel.

It’s no time to go wobbly, no matter how many pro-Hamas demonstrations interrupt Biden’s vacations. No more apologies.