US President Joe Biden's joke about running over a reporter asking about Israel didn't go down well with the social media users. Biden was test-driving the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck during his tour of the Ford plant based in Michigan.
Ever since the Middle East tension flared up, Biden has neither criticized Israel even as it is engaged in conflict with the Hamas in Gaza.
Biden Dodges Questions About Israel
In the incident, which took place on Tuesday, a reporter asked the US President if he could ask him a question about Israel. "Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away, since it's so important?" he said.
"No, you can't - not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm only teasing," Biden said, with a chuckle as he sped away in the new vehicle.
The Business Insider reported that Biden has been criticized by several Democrats in Congress regarding his approach towards the ongoing conflict between Israel-Palestine. At least 213 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel died since the beginning of the current conflict.
It was reported that the Biden administration also stopped the UN Security Council to release a statement calling for a cease-fire and condemning the violence in Gaza. Thanking the US President for the same, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz tweeted, "My sincere thanks to the U.S. Administration ... for rightly preventing the unjust U.N. Security Council statement criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza."
Social Media Angered at Biden's Joke
However, the joke was not well received by several people who slammed the US President for the joke at a time when several lives are lost in the ongoing Middle East conflict.
"To quote Joe Biden: 'C'mon, man,'" tweeted journalist Alheli Picazo.
"what a HILARIOUS context in which to joke about attacking journalists!" wrote former Washington Post journalist Max J. Rosenthal.
"This would be a five-alarm fire of a news cycle if Joe Biden was a Republican and said this to a reporter," Ted Cruz aide Steve Guest wrote.
"So because he's busy being a brand ambassador for that car company, he can't answer a very relevant question about how Israel is dropping bombs on civilians? Destroying innocent people's lives through death and destruction. Israel is our ally, Biden needs to answer why," tweeted a user.
