(NewsNation) — Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton believes that Iran is not only funding the ongoing protests against the war in Gaza but that the Middle Eastern country is exploiting the Biden administration’s so-called “weakness.”

The White House “acknowledged, which is pretty remarkable, that at least some of (the protests) are being funded by Iran… I mean, really, this is the kind of weakness that Iran sees in this administration all the time. And they exploit it,” Bolton told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas.

Protesters against the war held a “die-in” across from Lafayette Park and the White House on Thursday as President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The protesters poured red liquid onto the street, saying it symbolized the blood of those killed in Gaza. They chanted, “Arrest Netanyahu,” and brought in an effigy of Netanyahu with blood on its hands and wearing an orange jumpsuit. The jumpsuit reads, “Wanted for crimes against humanity.”

Bolton said he would like to see strict punishment for those who defaced statues with phrases like “Hamas is coming.”

“One friend of mine said the punishment for the person who spray painted that triangle and the word ‘Hamas’ should be that they’re in prison for as long as it takes for them to scrape that off with a toothbrush, Bolton said. “That would be appropriate.”

More than 39,000 people have died in Gaza since the start of the war. About 1,200 were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war, and dozens of Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity.

The total death toll in the war could reach more than 186,000 people, according to a study published in the journal Lancet.