Chris Murphy: If Biden can’t please left or right on Israel, maybe that’s a good thing

Kelly Garrity
·2 min read

President Joe Biden has ignited criticism from both the left and right as he attempts to balance his response to Israel’s war in Gaza. That might be a good thing, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Sunday.

“I think frankly, when you're being a good leader, you are often upsetting people on the right and the left,” Murphy said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Biden has for months faced backlash from the left for his support for Israel as the country embarked on a deadly offensive in Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel’s southern border. Thousands of voters have mobilized to stage protest votes against Biden in the primary elections in states across the country. But as the civilian death toll continues to grow in Gaza and with the threat of a wide-scale invasion into Rafah, Biden has come down more forcefully on the U.S.’s main ally in the Middle East — most recently saying the U.S. would withhold some military aid to Israel, a comment that raised alarm on the right.

But taking a middle-of-the-road stance isn’t new for Biden, Murphy said. And it puts in line with much of the country.

“President Biden advertised himself when he ran for office as someone who would often play it down the middle, who would not pay attention to the extremes of the debate and would just do what he thought was right for the country and what the broad middle of the country wants. And I actually think that's where the broad middle of the country is,” Murphy said Sunday.

Murphy supports Biden’s stance, including his decision to hold back some weaponry.

“[In] Israel, what Joe Biden is telling the Israelis is we will be partners with you but you have to understand that the pace of civilian casualties, the amount of humanitarian disaster … is in the long-run, going to make Hamas stronger, is going to make it more likely that Israel will be attacked again and is going to make other terrorist organizations that have designs to attack the United States stronger,” he said.