From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Trump: Hezbollah ‘very smart,’ Defense Minister Gallant is a ‘jerk’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Former US president Donald Trump hails the Hezbollah terror group as “very smart” while branding Defense Minister Yoav Gallant a “jerk.”
Speaking at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach, the GOP presidential front-runner says, “Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people [who] said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack [Israel] from the north because that’s the most vulnerable spot.”
“I said, ‘Wait a minute, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart. — The press doesn’t like it when I say that. I said that President Xi of China — 1.4 billion people. He controls it with an iron fist. — I said, ‘he’s a very smart man.’ They killed me the next day.”
Turning to Gallant in Israel, Trump says, “They have a national defense minister or somebody saying, ‘I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack us from the north.’ So the following morning, they attacked… If you listen to this jerk, you would attack from the north because he said, ‘That’s our weak spot.'”
NEW: Trump praises Hezbollah, calling the Iran-backed terror group “very smart” hours after they attacked Israel.
Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/8YhjpyyGLZ
— DeSantis War Room ???? (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 12, 2023
