Biden shuts down reporter with excellent response for asking question that cited Hamas propaganda

President Joe Biden provided an excellent answer on Wednesday when asked about civilian casualties in Gaza.

At a press conference, "PBS Newshour" correspondent Laura Barrón-López asked Biden if he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "ignoring" his message that Israel should minimize civilian casualties in Gaza.

The premise of the question relied on claims from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which Barrón-López acknowledged is controlled by Hamas.

Barrón-López asked:

In the 18 days since Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed over 6,000 Palestinians, including 2,700 children. You’ve previously asked Netanyahu to minimize civilian casualties. Do these numbers say to you that he is ignoring that message?

In response, Biden immediately sniffed out the Hamas propaganda on which the question relied.

"What they say to me is I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed," he told Barrón-López.

"I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's the price of waging a war," Biden added. "The Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they’re focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. And it's against their interest when that doesn’t happen. But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using."

The answer outraged the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the famous Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case.

"We are deeply disturbed and shocked by the dehumanizing comments that President Biden made about the almost 7,000 Palestinians slaughtered by the Israeli government over the past two weeks," CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said. "President Biden should apologize for his comments, condemn the Israeli government for deliberately targeting civilians, and demand a ceasefire before more innocent people die."

There is, of course, no evidence that Israel has targeted civilians. Even more important, there is no evidence that more than 6,000 or 7,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel.

As Barrón-López herself admitted, Hamas is the source for the civilian death toll in Gaza; there is no independent verification for the group's claims. And as the media learned with the Al-Ahli Hospital bombing story, the Gaza Ministry of Health is a source of propaganda — not truth.

Unfortunately, that has not stopped media outlets worldwide, or even the United Nations, from continually citing the terrorist group in reporting the alleged number of civilian deaths in Gaza.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!