Pence says he would have had boots on the ground in Gaza if president

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he would put boots on the ground in Gaza if he were president Friday.

“We’re talking about Americans now,” Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential primary candidate, told CNN anchor Jake Tapper. “Jake, we’re talking about Americans that have been captured and taken hostage, by the brutal Hamas terrorists.”

Pence said he “welcomed” the release of two Americans taken as hostages by the Palestinian militant group Hamas during its attack on Israel earlier this month.

“I said the better part of two weeks ago, Jake, that if I was president, I would have already been on the phone with the Joint Special Operations Command, I would have given orders for Delta Force and the Navy SEALs to be prepared to work with Israeli Defense Forces to engage in hostage rescue and then I woulda told Hamas that you have– you got 12 hours to turn loose every American, every Israeli hostage or we’re gonna come and get ’em,” Pence said.

Biden said he was “overjoyed” at the release of the two American hostages yesterday in a statement. 

“These individuals and their family will have the full support of the United States government as they recover and heal, and we should all respect their privacy in this moment,” Biden said. 

Pence isn’t the only GOP presidential primary candidate who has said he would want American military force involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Thursday he would ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against Hamas.

“As President, I would ask Congress to give authorization for military force against Hamas,” Hutchinson, a 2024 GOP presidential primary candidate, said in an interview on NewsNation.