DeSantis blasts Biden after Israel attacks, backs wiping Hamas 'off face of the earth'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was on the campaign trail this weekend in Iowa at the same time Hamas terrorists launched a series of attacks in Israel, which by Monday evening claimed as many as 1,500 Israelis and nine Americans. The governor wasted no time weighing in on the atrocities – reportedly including rapes and hostage-taking – telling Newsmax there would never be a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians. 

DeSantis phoned in to the network’s “Chris Salcedo Show,” saying “Palestinian Arabs in places like the Gaza Strip, they don't want their own state as much as they just want to eradicate the Jewish state. They don't want to recognize Israel's right to exist … They think it's their duty to drive the Jews into the sea.”

At a campaign event in Le Mars, Iowa, the governor told a crowd Hamas should be wiped “off the face of the earth,” Iowa Public Radio reported. He held Iran – based on a disputed Wall Street Journal report – responsible for the attacks: “If you look at Iran, since 1979 when the Ayatollah took over, they have wanted to kill as many Americans and kill as many Jews as possible.” 

And “DeSantis blasted President Biden … for a recent prisoner swap that freed five Americans but also gave Iran access to $6 billion in frozen oil revenue,” KSCJ (Sioux City) reported. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken countered “none of the money has been spent yet and … it can be used only for humanitarian purposes,” the Washington Post reported.