The White House faced significant backlash after mistakenly posting a photograph of President Biden with U.S. troops in Israel, failing to obscure the soldiers’ identities.
This oversight was especially concerning given the sensitive nature of the troops’ mission in Israel amid the recent terrorist attack by Hamas on the U.S. allied nation.
The photograph, which was shared on Instagram by the White House, was promptly removed after its initial posting.
However, not before it garnered widespread attention and criticism from many, including Fox News contributor Sara Carter, who posed the question, “Is the White House really this stupid or are they just trying to get people targeted?” Fox News reports.
Journalist Sam Shoemate provided a redacted version of the photo, emphasizing the oversight by the White House media team.
“The Whitehouse media team shared this picture last night (I added the black boxes) without blurring or censoring the faces of the ‘Delta Force’ (CAG) operator’s faces. They deleted it an hour later after hundreds of thousands had already viewed it. This is a massive failure on the Biden admin,” he pointed out.
In the original post by the White House, the caption read, “In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks.”
Subsequently, during a U.S. Department of Defense briefing, when Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder was questioned about the identities of the soldiers in the photograph and if there was a policy against photographing special forces, he responded, “I’d have to refer you to the White House on that. I just don’t have any to provide. Thank you.”
Addressing the situation, a White House spokesperson provided a statement to Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, saying, “As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo. We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.”
U.S. military veteran and author Sean Parnell wrote, “Holy G–. Biden doxed Delta. This without question puts a target on them & their families.”
