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President Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan faced renewed scrutiny on social media this weekend for a 2023 comment claiming the Middle East was “quiet” after Iran launched the first-ever direct attack on Israel.
“What we said is [we] want to depressurize, de-escalate and ultimately integrate the Middle East region,” Sullivan said at The Atlantic Festival on Sept. 29.
“The war in Yemen is in its 19th month of truce. For now, the Iranian attacks against U.S. forces have stopped. Our presence in Iraq is stable. I emphasize for now because all of that can change and the Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades,” he added.
Since that comment was made, Hamas launched a deadly terrorist attack against Israel killing over 1,000 people, and over the weekend, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel in the form of hundreds of drones and missiles.
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National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (AP Photo/Susan Walsh/Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Sullivan’s comment drew strong criticism from social media users.
“This is who is running Biden’s foreign policy,” the Republican National Committee posted on X.
“Hard to believe, but this was 6 months ago,” Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Charles Lister posted on X.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday, Nov. 1. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“Jake Sullivan has been attached to some of our biggest foreign disasters, including Benghazi,” journalist Sharyl Attkisson posted on X. “Who knows why he continues to achieve high positions making more mistakes.”
“Biden’s Administration: Full of liars!” Fox News Contributor Leo Terrell posted on X.
Former U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant, author and commentator Tony Schaffer posted on X that Sullivan is a “moron extraordinaire” who is promoting a “utopian fantasy.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the National Security Council for comment but did not receive a response.
Sullivan has been at the center of several controversies in recent years, many of which have been brought up by conservatives on social media in light of his Middle East comments, including the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In the days following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sullivan and the State Department were criticized for being unable to say exactly how many Americans had been left behind.
In 2021, the top oversight Republican in Congress called for the removal of Sullivan from his position due to his position at the “epicenter” of failed foreign policy decisions over the last 10 years, including the Benghazi terror attack that killed three American contractors and a U.S. ambassador.
President-elect Biden’s national security adviser nominee Jake Sullivan speaks at The Queen theater, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sullivan served as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and policy adviser at the State Department during the 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
“From Benghazi to the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Jake Sullivan has been at the epicenter of the worst foreign policy crises and decisions over the past decade,” Ranking Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital at the time. “Given this administration’s tendency to create self-inflicted crises, it’s no surprise Jake Sullivan has been given a top post at the Biden White House.”
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
