Four times Biden’s breakdown in support came from inside his White House
January 04, 2024 02:08 PM
President Joe Biden is seeing a decrease in public approval from Democratic voters, legislators, and even members of his own administration over policies ranging from green energy to the southern border. Lately, staffers within the White House are joining in breaking with the president over his unwavering support for Israel.
Since the war began in October 2023, Biden has seen a decrease in approval ratings over his approach to the conflict, including from key voter blocs that assured his victory in 2020 but are threatening to withhold their votes in retaliation. Opposition within his own administration has driven the frustration, as officials sign on to letters calling for an end to Biden’s Israel policies and some are departing the team altogether.
Here are recent instances when the support of the president broke down from within the White House:
Biden education official resigns
Tariq Habash, a policy adviser in the Education Department’s Office of Planning, resigned from his position Wednesday. He said he strongly supported the president until Biden’s support of what is occurring in Gaza made it impossible to continue doing so. He was the only Palestinian American appointee in the Department of Education, he wrote in his resignation letter.
“The actions of the Biden-Harris Administration have put millions of innocent lives in danger, most immediately for the 2.3 million Palestinian civilians living in Gaza who remain under continuous assault and ethnic cleansing by the Israeli government,” Habash said. “Therefore, I must resign.”
Habash ended his resignation announcement by telling Biden to call for a ceasefire.
Campaign staffers push back against Biden
Shortly after Habash announced his resignation, 17 “Biden for President” campaign staffers issued an anonymous letter protesting the administration’s support of Israel.
“As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,” the staffers wrote in the letter shared on Medium.
The growing death toll in the war, the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, and the displacement of more than 1 million people in Gaza have led to international calls for a ceasefire. But the Biden administration is not among those who have made such demands.
Instead, the White House has pushed for brief pauses in fighting for aid to flow into Gaza and give civilians the chance to evacuate, supporting Israel’s stance that Hamas cannot remain in power in Gaza, which a ceasefire presumably would allow.
The campaign staffers argued that the deaths of Palestinians “cannot be justified” and warned that his position on the war could cost him his reelection bid.
“We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for. Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country,” the staffers wrote. “However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election.”
Biden administration officials have admitted that the Jewish state should be doing more to prevent civilian casualties.
White House interns join staffers in calling for a ceasefire
More than 40 White House interns anonymously signed a letter to Biden calling for him to support a ceasefire, as well.
The staffers, who are members of the “Fall 2023 White House and Executive Office of the President” intern class, wrote in a letter sent on Dec. 5, 2023, that they would “no longer remain silent on the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.” The letter was addressed to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We are not the decision makers of today, but we aspire to be the leaders of tomorrow, and we will never forget how the pleas of the American people have been heard and thus far, ignored,” the staffers wrote.
The staffers did not identify themselves by name, instead listing themselves as members of nine different offices and departments within the White House, with other signatories leaving their White House office anonymous.
Ahead of the letter’s release, Biden said Hamas was responsible for the end of the weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.
More than 500 officials call for end to Biden’s Israel policies
In November 2023, more than 500 political appointees and staff across 40 government agencies signed a letter to Biden protesting his support of Israel. The letter asked Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire and push the Jewish state to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
That followed several other letters from administration employees, including three internal memos sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed by dozens of State Department employees and an open letter sent by 1,000 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter read.
The officials said at the time that they would update the White House daily with any new signature counts.