President Joe Biden on Sunday confused Israel’s weekend strike against Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen with the imminent union strike by U.S. port workers set to start Tuesday.
Reporters asked the president for his response to Israel’s Sunday airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen as he walked across the tarmac in Delaware on Sunday.
"I've spoken to both sides. They got to settle the strike. I'm supporting the collective bargaining effort. I think they'll settle the strike," Biden responded, speaking of the International Longshoremen’s Association’s anticipated strike on Tuesday.
Israel’s missile strike came in response to a Sept. 15 attack by the terror group against the Jewish state. Israel targeted power plants and a seaport used to transfer Iranian weapons to the region in a Sunday airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces said. Israel has been at odds with the Houthis since July when a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv killed one and injured several others.
Biden was speaking of the International Longshoremen’s Association union, which is set to strike across all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports from Maine to Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The strike is expected to have detrimental effects on America’s supply chain and cost the economy about $5 billion a day, according to a JP Morgan analysis.
