Politics
WATCH: Angry Biden Threatens To Throw A Reporter’s Phone
President Joe Biden visibly lost his temper with a TikTok journalist who pressed him on sensitive political topics, even threatening to throw the influencer’s phone during a recent White House event for social media influencers. The moment unfolded at an exclusive gathering aimed at engaging with top social media personalities on current issues.
Jonathan Katz, an independent journalist known for his active presence on TikTok, confronted President Biden with pointed questions about U.S. support for Israel amidst ongoing conflicts in Gaza. Katz’s questions, particularly regarding the alleged use of American-funded weaponry in what he referred to as a “genocide” in Gaza, seemed to strike a nerve with the President.
Biden initially attempted to redirect the conversation, emphasizing his administration’s efforts to minimize casualties and facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza. “That’s fundamentally different than how Israel acts in Gaza. I’ve been, as you probably know, putting extreme pressure on the Israelis to back off and open up humanitarian access,” Biden stated, hoping to ease the tension.
However, as Katz persisted, Biden’s demeanor shifted. The exchange, which was being recorded by Katz, escalated when Biden commented on Katz’s persistence, saying, “I trust you as far as I can throw your phone. I have a good arm, man. I can throw it a long way.” The moment was diffused by White House aides before it could escalate further.
WATCH:
@katzonearth Watch to the end. Had a chance to ask President Biden some questions about Israel, Gaza, and the student protests today. So I did. #biden #whitehouse #gaza #israel #palestine #badcamerawork #fyp
Reaction on social media was swift, with many not so surprised at the President’s threat. Katz has over 70k followers and over 734k likes on TikTok. “Good question and appreciate you asking,” one user commented. “Fitting he lost his train of thought halfway through, came back and still didn’t answer.
“He left that convo so fast,” said another.
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Katz wrote after the exchange:
First, my admittedly superficial impression was that Biden was all there, mentally. My experience was of talking to a seasoned, if old, politician, who deftly deflected an uncomfortable question, had a totally separate emotional interaction — one that happened to require remembering a face and an interaction he’d had decades ago — then came back over to me to hammer his point. If anything he was more intense and focused than I’d expected. I’m unsure if his ire was directed at me, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or all of the above. But there was no trace of the senility or dementia many assume have set in.
My more substantive take is that this was an in-the-flesh confirmation of the Biden who has come across in leaks and comments from aides, a Biden who is fed up with Israel’s shenanigans and this close to imposing some kind of consequence or other. And I have to say that I did feel that his perturbation with Israel was genuine — especially given his late Cold Warrior conviction, unevidenced of late, that Israel’s primacy in the Middle East is essential to American security.
But his avoidance of specifics spoke to the other side of that coin: the fact that there has been zero evidence of any serious consequences in the seven months of this ungodly war. So far the U.S. response to countless war crimes in Gaza has been to briefly threaten symbolic sanctions against individual Israeli units and officials, then reverse them immediately. And to allow a weakened ceasefire resolution to pass the U.N. Security Council, then pretend like the resolution doesn’t count.
All the while, Biden — personally annoyed or otherwise — has kept the bombs and billions flowing. Even as we spoke, his administration was reportedly working to stop the International Criminal Court (the criminal analog to the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, also in The Hague) from issuing warrants for Netanyahu and other Israeli officials’ arrest.
