NY Times Reporter Asks Biden What His Message Is to ‘People Who Don’t Believe You’ About Bombing

New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker pressed President Joe Biden to give his message for “people who don’t necessarily believe you” about the bombing of a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of innocents.

On Tuesday, there was a rush by some to blame the bombing — which claimed the lives of as many as 500 civilians — on an Israeli airstrike, while Israel’s military immediately identified Islamic Jihad as the responsible party — a conclusion with which Biden agreed early on.

Since then, the IDF and others have presented evidence that backs up that conclusion.

President Biden gaggled with reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday night following his trip to Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, where Baker asked him to respond to skeptics who still don’t believe the hospital bombing was the result of something other than an Israeli airstrike:

PETER BAKER: How about the hospital, sir? People all over the region are upset about the hospital and don’t necessarily believe you or the Israelis that they didn’t have anything to with it. Do you have a message to the people in the streets right now?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can understand why, in this circumstance, they wouldn’t believe. I can understand that.

And — but I would not — you’ll notice I don’t say things like that unless I have faith in the source from which I’ve gotten it. Our Defense Department says it’s highly unlikely that it was the Israelis. It would have had a — a different footprint. And they’ve intercepted some — anyway.

They — and so, that’s why, if you notice, I didn’t say it at first. I didn’t — I wanted to make sure that I knew.

And, look — and I’m not suggesting that Hamas deliberately did it, either. It’s that old thing: You’ve got to learn how to shoot straight. You know, and — and it’s not the first time Hamas has launched something that didn’t function very well.

So, I — I don’t know all the detail, but I do know the people at the Defense Department, who I respect, and the intelligence community that I respect, and it’s highly improbable that Israel did that.

Watch above via C-SPAN.