TV anchor Chris Cuomo slammed progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for denouncing Israel over its use of exploding pagers to kill Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.
Cuomo, the host of his primetime news talk show on the NewsNation cable channel, called out the “Squad” member after the New York Democrat accused Israel of “clearly and unequivocally violat[ing] international humanitarian law.”
“Why don’t you mention the pagers were on members of a terrorist organization that is committed to destroying Israel?” Cuomo shot back.
Why don’t you mention the pagers were on members of a terrorist organization that is committed to destroying Israel? Would you have been defending al qaeda when America was lighting them up in Iraq? https://t.co/WFxv8EJdYk
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) September 19, 2024
“Would you have been defending al Qaeda when America was lighting them up in Iraq?”
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Cuomo, noting that a 9-year-old Lebanese girl was one of two children killed in the pager attacks.
“What did the 9 year old girl who was killed do to deserve that, Chris?” she wrote.
“Insinuating that anyone who questions how operations unfold, including civilian casualties, is siding with terrorists is a deeply ugly rearing of our past. Would you cheerlead going back into Afghanistan?”
On his NewsNation show, Cuomo noted that Ocasio-Cortez’s office in Congress was vandalized by protesters.
The congresswoman wrote on X that her office was “tagged with blood-splattered signs accusing [her] of supporting terrorism.”
“They must live under a rock to not know I don’t take well to bullies,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
On his Friday show on NewsNation, Cuomo said Ocasio-Cortez was “dead wrong” about her criticisms of Israel — particularly over whether planting explosives inside pagers is a violation of US regulations.
“One, Israel is not one of the United States, so they don’t follow our laws or rules,” Cuomo said.
“Second, if the representative was suggesting by that comparison that the United States should therefore not support Israel, good luck with that.”
Cuomo said the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual prohibited the “indiscriminate” use of booby traps.
He said Israel was justified in using the tactics because “a group of bloodthirsty terrorists [were] coming for [them].”
“So, did she not read that part because she’s not a lawyer or not thorough, or did she intentionally not want to be fair?”
Cuomo said Ocasio-Cortez did not value her opponents as “humans” as she did herself — particularly in light of her reaction to her office being vandalized.
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“Speak out against that, coming and doing these ugly things to my office,” Cuomo said.
“Imagine if they had sent a real bomb threat. That’d be way worse, right?”
Cuomo said Ocasio-Cortez failed to condemn the bomb threats made against Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), adding: “And she said nothing about the assassination attempts against former President Trump.”
“Clearly, she does not value her opponents as humans the way she does herself,” Cuomo said of Ocasio-Cortez.
“That is a bigger problem than her getting the law wrong and accusing an ally under siege of war crimes.”
The Post has sought comment from Ocasio-Cortez.
