President Joe Biden called the Iran-backed Houthi rebels a terrorist group on Friday despite taking them off the State Department’s list of terror groups in 2021.
Biden ordered a military strike on the Houthis in Yemen on Thursday after the group launched at least 27 attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
“Are you willing to call the Houthis a terrorist group?” a reporter asked Biden on Friday as he toured small businesses in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“I think they are,” the president responded.
REPORTER: “Are you willing to call the Houthis a terrorist group?”
BIDEN: “I think they are.”
(Biden *removed* the terrorist designation on the Houthis in 2021) pic.twitter.com/k3OYkxloYy
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 12, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s administration listed the Houthi rebels, also known as Ansar Allah or “Supporters of God,” as a terrorist organization shortly before he left office in Jan. 2021. The following month, the Biden administration reversed the decision.
“Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken has been clear about undertaking an expeditious review of the designations of Ansarallah given the profound implications for the people of Yemen, home to the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe,” a State Department official confirmed to NBC News in Feb. 2021. “After a comprehensive review, we can confirm that the Secretary intends to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist designations of Ansarallah.”
Biden didn’t give any indication Friday if he would put the Houthis back on the list after being asked how soon he would be willing to do so.
“It’s irrelevant whether they’re designated. We’ve put together a group of nations [inaudible] if they continue to act and behave as they do, we’ll respond,” Biden responded.
QUESTION: When will you re-designate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization?
BIDEN: “It’s irrelevant whether they’re designated” pic.twitter.com/squrE1u8wI
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 12, 2024
The Houthis have been fighting the Yemeni government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014. The United Nations reported in March 2023 that 4.5 million Yemenis had been displaced, while 21.6 million — two-thirds of the population — were “in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection services.”
The Biden administration considered re-adding the Houthis to the list in Nov. 2023 after the group escalated attacks and seized a cargo ship. (RELATED: Shipping Giant Halts Commerce In Red Sea Despite US Navy Defending Against Houthi Attacks)
U.S. forces — heading a coalition that includes the U.K., Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands — hit “a number of targets” in Yemen on Thursday.
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a written statement released Thursday evening.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the strike on the Houthis from his hospital bed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, according to Business Insider. Austin was hospitalized on Jan. 1 but failed to alert the White House or Congress. After informing Biden of his hospitalization, it was revealed several days later that Austin had a urinary tract infection and had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” Biden wrote in his statement.
“I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” he added.