Is America Safer Under Joe Biden? FBI Director Can't Say It Is

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that the U.S. faces an elevated risk of terrorist threats but did not directly respond to a Republican lawmaker's question about the country being more unsafe under President Joe Biden.

Wray, a Republican who was appointed to his position by former President Donald Trump, spoke during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he was primarily questioned about the Israel-Hamas conflict and its impact on the U.S. He said that the U.S. is in a dangerous period, with the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas causing a spike in threats from other groups.

At one point, Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida asked Wray if the U.S. is more unsafe than it was when Biden took office, attempting to link the current state of affairs to the Democratic president's policies.

"Is the United States safer from foreign terror threats today?" Scott asked. "Are we safer than when Joe Biden took office?"

Wray took several seconds to respond. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Scott characterized his eventual response as an admission of "what we all know." Despite that, however, Wray's answer made no mention of Biden's impact on the safety of the U.S., and largely reiterated his general points about terror threats.

"What I would say to you is that the terror threats have elevated," Wray said. "But I also think there are a lot of things the country has done throughout law enforcement to be better prepared to deal with them."

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

After Hamas began its deadly attacks in southern Israel, Israel launched its heaviest-ever air strikes on the Gaza Strip, and ground forces began entering the region on Sunday.

More than 1,400 people died in Israel in the attacks, according to the Associated Press, which cited Israeli sources. The Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza said that as of Sunday, the death toll in the Gaza Strip surpassed 8,000, AP reported.

A number of foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, are also believed to be among more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas, and about 600 U.S. nationals are estimated to be in Gaza, some of whom the White House has said are trying to exit via the Rafah crossing to Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is at war and has cut off food, fuel, electricity and medicine supplies into Gaza. Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists for its ground offensive into the territory, which has an estimated population of roughly 2.3 million.