US President Joe Biden confronted reporters at the weekend after he was caught on hot mic hitting out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Following his State of the Union speech on Friday, President Biden faced questions from reporters as he began a tour of battleground states, starting with eastern Pennsylvania.
Reporters questioned Biden about a remark made inside the House about Israeli PM Netanyahu over the Gaza conflict, mentioning a "come to Jesus" meeting.
"I told him, 'Bibi,' and don't repeat this, but 'you and I are going to have a come to Jesus' meeting," Biden said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. "I'm on a hot mic here."
The remarks were overheard on a hot mic on the House floor on Thursday night (local time) following his State of the Union address.
Biden initially denied using that phrase in his speech, clarifying it was overheard afterward.
When questioned about the comment, Biden said: "You guys eavesdropping on things?"
Why does Mr. Netanyahu need a come-to-Jesus meeting?
What are you hoping for him to achieve?
I didn't say that in the speech.
What about after the speech?
You guys, he's dropping on things.
Does that show your level of frustration with him on humanitarian aid?
Does he need to be doing more?
Yes, he does.
I was telling your secretary, you know,
I was in Jordan and Israel last weekend,
and we just, you know,
we've got to keep pushing to do it
on the humanitarian stuff and all this stuff.
So...
I told him,
Bibi,
Bibi, come to Jesus.
Sir, just...
Thank you.
Saying, quote,
I told him, Bibi,
and don't repeat this, but you and I
are going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting.
What do you mean by that?
What I meant was, it's an expression used
in the southern part of my state,
meaning a serious meeting.
And it was, I've known Bibi for 50 years,
and he knew what I meant by it.
So,
what's the come-to-Jesus part?
What tough love
are you going to give to the prime minister?
What's happening is
he has a right to defend Israel,
a right to continue to pursue Hamas,
but he must, he must,
he must pay more attention
to the innocent lives being lost
as a consequence of the actions taken.
He's hurting, in my view,
he's hurting Israel
more than helping Israel by
making the rest of the world...
It's contrary to what Israel stands for.
And I think it's a big mistake.
So I want to see a ceasefire.
We're dealing with a major, major
exchange of prisoners
for a six-week period.
We're going into Ramadan.
It should be nothing happening.
