Naomi Biden Fact-Checks Billionaire Slamming Joe Biden

Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden fact-checked billionaire Bill Ackman on Friday after he criticized the president’s handling of the hostage situation in Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel, in response, subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took some 250 hostages. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, citing the Gaza Health Ministry.

Ackman, the founder and CEO of hedge fund management company Pershing Square Capital Management and a vocal Biden critic, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: “Can anyone think of another situation in history where Americans were taken hostage by terrorists and our President acted as if this has not occurred.

“I can’t think of one example in the last 181 days where @POTUS Biden has expressed concern for the American hostages that are still being held by Hamas. Does this make you feel safe as an American citizen?”

Roughly half of the hostages that Hamas took in October were released in a temporary ceasefire in November. There is believed to be about 100 remaining hostages in Gaza and the remains of some 30 hostages who were either killed on October 7 or died in captivity. The U.S. Department of State said in January that there were six surviving American hostages in captivity.

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

Naomi Biden, a lawyer and daughter to Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, spoke out against Ackman’s criticism, writing in an X post on Friday, “Either you aren’t paying attention or you’re intentionally spreading disinformation. Either way, at best, you’re ignorant.”

She then shared several examples of action that her grandfather has taken to try to free the hostages and awareness that he is bringing to the cause.

On January 14, Biden shared a statement marking 100 days of captivity for the hostages in Gaza.

“For 100 days, they have existed in fear for their lives, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. For 100 days, their families have lived in agony, praying for the safe return of their loved ones. And for each of those 100 days, the hostages and their families) been at the forefront of my mind as my security team and I have worked non-sto[p] try to secure their freedom,” the president said at the time.

The U.S. has been working alongside Qatar and Egypt to broker another ceasefire among Hamas and Israel, but a possible agreement has been stalled.

Among the many headlines Naomi Biden shared in her X thread was one from Axios that read: “Biden to hostage-ceasefire negotiators: Get me a deal.”

Axios reported in the article published in late February that Biden called the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and told them to get him a deal, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to the publication.

Naomi Biden also shared an article from the AP that detailed Biden urging the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to press Hamas for a hostage deal with Israel in letters on Friday, according to a senior administration official who spoke with the publication.

The official said that Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, will meet with family members of some of the roughly 100 hostages still in Gaza.

Biden also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a phone call on Thursday to reach a deal with Hamas “without delay,” saying that an “immediate ceasefire” in exchange for the remaining hostages was “essential,” according to a statement from the White House.

Meanwhile, Biden sent CIA Director William Burns to Cairo for talks about the hostage situation this weekend. Negotiators from Egypt and Qatar, as well as David Barnea, the head of Mossad, which is Israel’s spy agency, will be in attendance and proposals from the talk with be relayed through third parties to Hamas.