Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has claimed policies under former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama are partly to blame for the deadly mass shooting that took place at a Hanukkah event in Australia this weekend.
Graham, 70, joined Fox News Monday to express his outrage at the Bondi Beach shooting that left 15 people dead and dozens of others injured on the first night of Hanukkah.
Graham, a vocal ally of Israel, claimed the shooting proved the world is in a “religious war with radical Islam” after the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese indicated the perpetrators appear to have been “motivated” by the terrorist organization, ISIS.
“Obama and Biden have a lot to do with this,” Graham declared on Hannity.
“I blame the terrorist, but Obama allowed ISIS to come about when he withdrew from Iraq… and the dumb*** Biden, the biggest dumb*** from the planet, withdrew from Afghanistan, obliterated our borders and rejoined the Iran nuclear agreement, making the Ayatollah flush with cash,” Graham added.
Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of carrying out the Bondi Beach attack that left 15 people dead and dozens more injured during a gathering to celebrate the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in the popular Sydney tourist destination. Those killed Sunday included a 10-year-old child, a British-born rabbi, a former police officer, and a Holocaust survivor. Health authorities have said that 24 people are still being treated in hospital, with several in critical condition. The Jewish community is demanding that Australian leaders to do more to fight antisemitism.
The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq was mandated under former president George W. Bush but carried out under the Obama administration. ISIS rose to power in the early 2010s, with the Obama administration dedicating significant resources to combating the group.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was part of a deal brokered under Trump’s first administration but executed by the Biden administration. However, Biden’s decision to delay was widely criticized for exacerbating problems that ultimately led to the chaotic and disastrous exit.
Biden did not rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, as Graham claimed, after Trump withdrew from the deal during his first term.
Graham also used his Fox News appearance to place blame on other liberal politicians for not doing enough to combat ISIS. He went as far as to claim Australian leaders had “allowed” ISIS into their country and criticized the government for imposing strict gun laws.
“Gun control is not the answer in fighting ISIS. That doesn’t get you anything but dead,” Graham said.
The South Carolina senator also praised President Donald Trump for taking a more aggressive approach to handling the terrorist organization, saying that he had destroyed much of the ISIS caliphate by 2019 and assassinating Qasem Soleimani, an influential Iranian military general.
