Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) said he rescued 32 Americans in Israel after terror attacks in the country from Hamas — a mission he claimed was only necessary because President Joe Biden had no initial rescue plan.
Mills, who served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, had previously conducted a rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2021 after the botched withdrawal effort in the region by the Biden administration that left 13 U.S. service members dead and other military allies stranded. He said Biden’s inaction after the Hamas attacks in Israel prompted another rescue trip.
“I went in and was very thankful to be able to get — for the second time, by the way, I’ll just add — helping the Biden administration, who has failed to do their job,” Mills told Fox News Wednesday. “[The] first time I did it was in 2021, where I conducted the very first successful rescue of Americans. But here it is, the second time doing the Biden administration’s work because they had no plan.”
“I hope that we don’t see a repeat of what happened in 2021 in Afghanistan, where Americans were left behind and abandoned by this administration.”
Hamas terrorists launched attacks in Israel over the weekend, committing mass murder, beheading babies, kidnapping hostages and torching houses. The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people — 222 of whom were soldiers — were killed in the attacks.
Mills said Biden’s initial response earlier in the week sent a poor message to the world, especially when the White House would call a “lid” in the afternoon, which meant they had no more events or comments.Â
“The Biden administration continues to want to do these lids, but I think it’s about time that the American people put a lid on the disastrous administration that continues to fail in their plan and strategy to be able to get Americans out or to take into account the foreign policy [situation] that they actually create that actually leads to these types of incidents,” Mills told Fox News.
Biden delivered a speech Tuesday that declared his administration’s full support for Israel as it responds to the terrorist attacks.Â
“In this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel,” Biden said. “And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack.”
The White House said it is talking to the families of missing Americans in Israel and coordinating with American intelligence agencies on efforts to find them, The New York Times reported.
John Roberts, a Fox News reporter and anchor, noted sources within the Senate said the U.S. government may use charter aircraft to evacuate the 16,000 Americans in Israel. Mills said he is not aware of the details of these reported plans but noted aid efforts could be complicated by an escalation in the region if other parties get involved.
“The minute that you start seeing a potential counteroffensive or you start seeing General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah from Hezbollah kick in, or you see other proxy militia groups that are headed by people like Hadi al-Amiri [of the political-paramilitary Hadr group] or Qais Khazali [of Iran-backed paramilitary group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq] out of Iraq and Syria, that could definitely put a damper on things, especially if they start taking any type of indirect fire onto that runway,” Mills told Fox News.
