John Kirby defends Biden's on-camera mumbling to Israeli president: 'He was very clear'

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby defended a largely unintelligible statement by President Joe Biden to the Israeli president as being "very clear" during a recent appearance on Fox News.

On an episode of "The Story with Martha MacCallum," the Fox News host showed a clip of Biden speaking to Israel's President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in the Oval Office, the Daily Caller reported.

Biden is heard saying, “We brought Israelis and Palestinians together at a political level," before the president trailed off into inaudible murmurs. Biden started looking down, at which point Herzog simply responded "yes," before he looked around the room.

One YouTube transcript was able to pick up the first line of the president's statement, after which the text goes completely blank before picking back up with a transcription seven seconds later. Biden said he "affirmed with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, America's commitment to Israel is firm."

"John, this moment got a lot of attention; it got picked up in a lot of places. Why is it so hard to understand what the president is trying to say there?” MacCallum asked after showing Kirby the clip.

“I think he was very, very clear, Martha,” Kirby immediately replied. “First of all, our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. That won’t change. That doesn’t mean we don’t have concerns. He has concerns, and he’s expressed those about the significant changes that are afoot in the democratic institutions inside Israel," he added.

"The president spoke about that honestly with the prime minister and the president of Israel. Israel is a deep and secure partner and friend in the region. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that they can continue to defend themselves," Kirby went on.

“So you didn’t think there was any problem to communicate there? He didn’t have any difficulty understanding what he was trying to say?” MacCallum reasserted.

However, Kirby remained steadfast and claimed once again that Biden was "very clear."

“The president was very clear in that clip and very clear publicly and privately with the Israeli leaders about what we’re trying to do here,” Kirby responded.

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