NBC News Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd said that a continued “hot war” in Israel could be a “nightmare” for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.
Biden has faced a revolt from his party’s left wing over his support of Israel’s military operations since the Oct. 7 attack by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas that killed over 1,200 people. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan even called on Democratic primary voters to support “uncommitted” slates of delegates due to Biden’s failure to secure a permanent cease-fire. Todd said that when students return to college in the fall, a “nightmare” could begin for Biden.
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“This is a prerequisite for Biden or any Democratic ticket at this point, whether it’s Biden or Harris, to have this not be a hot war in the fall,” Todd told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell. “If this is a hot war, when — when — when younger folks are back on college campuses… and there’s daily, you know, exchanges of gunfire… I think this is a nightmare for the incumbent president or the incumbent administration, whoever’s at the top of the ticket.”
Todd also took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 address to Congress, saying that securing a cease-fire would “blunt” what he called “political interference.”
“Frankly, I think it’s necessary to blunt the political interference that the Israeli prime minister is participating in by coming to speak to a divided Congress,” Todd said. “I mean, I don’t understand why he’s doing that. It’s not in the best interest of Israel overall. It’s only in the best interests of his own politics, and perhaps what he wants to see happen in this country’s politics.”
A ceasefire would be “necessary development for this administration,” Todd said.
