Harold Ford Jr. On Biden’s Response to Red Sea Crisis: It Was ‘Long Overdue’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
BAIER: “And speaking of the message of deterrence, Harold, the Biden Administration has been making that message. The president has been making that message about the Middle East for a long time. Take a listen.”
[Clip starts]
Biden: “Any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word. Don’t.”
Blinken: “To any actor, any state or non-state trying to take advantage of this tack Israel, don’t.”
Austin: “Anyone thinking about trying to take advantage of this atrocity, to try to widen the conflict or to spill more blood, we have just one word. Don’t.”
[Clip ends]
BAIER: “But, Harold, they did.”
FORD JR.: “First off, thanks for having me on, and happy Friday. I think Byron touches on and the remarks by the president and some of his deputies demonstrate two things. One, we want to ensure that we do everything we can to deter these attacks by the Houthis, and to Byron’s point, interfering with and impairing navigation, commercial navigation in that region of the world is really, I think, the final catalyst here. Separate, but apart from that is how do you ensure that we don’t widen this conflict and worsen this conflict? I thought the attacks, our response rather today was long overdue. I agree with Byron that the sense and implication in his remarks that we should have done this earlier. I don’t have access to all of the intelligence. Obviously, None of us do. But I hope that the president can be taken at his word going forward that we won’t allow these kind of attacks to impede commercial navigation. Those who want us to attack for the other attacks on our interests and our soldiers, I’m not — I’m not sure if I’m fully there yet because I understand the administration’s desire to calibrate and to ensure that we don’t widen and invite more conflict on top of an already very difficult war in the Middle East already.”