Gingrich slams Biden for stance on Iran, Middle East: ‘This is madness’

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich slammed President Biden for his stance on Iran and the Middle East in a Sunday interview, calling it “madness.”

The Middle East has recently been dealing with the Israel-Hamas war and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels striking ships, disrupting international trade in retaliation to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. 

Gingrich particularly criticized Biden for not standing up to Iran in a bigger way.

“By any reasonable standard, this is madness,” Gingrich said during his appearance on the Cats Roundtable Show with host John Catsimatidis that aired Sunday. “The United States is following a policy which weakens our own economy, increases our dependence on the world, strengthens our enemies.” 

Gingrich, during his remarks, questioned if the Biden administration and the people he chose to fill Cabinet positions are even capable of running the country.  

“You have to look at that and think, ‘Are these people deliberately, anti-American,” Gingrich said. “Or are they just stunningly incompetent?’”

Gingrich has been previously critical of Biden and his stance on Iran. 

On Feb. 1, Gingrich slammed Biden, characterizing him for being “out of touch with reality” and not being brave enough to respond to Iran. 

“So you have a president who is sort of the epitome of being out of touch with reality, of being weak, and of just plain lying,” Gingrich told Sean Hannity during his Thursday appearance on the Fox News show “Hannity.” “He would pick on the Israelis because it’s dangerous to do something directly to the Iranians.” 

On Friday, the U.S. carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian forces and the militias they support in Syria and Iraq. 

On Sunday, Gingrich drew a contrast between Biden’s and former president Trump’s foreign policy posture, asserting that during Trump’s time in office no nations wanted to create escalations with the U.S. while now, in his view, other world leaders see Biden differently.  

“The question is who intimidates who,” Gingrich said. “When Donald Trump was President, it was very clear that Trump intimidated all these guys. They didn’t want to mess with him. They didn’t want to take any big risks. They certainly didn’t want to get into a fight with him. Biden is the opposite.”