TV anchor Chris Cuomo recently criticized progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for denouncing Israel over its use of exploding pagers to kill Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. During his prime time news talk show on NewsNation, Cuomo called out the “Squad” member after she accused Israel of “clearly and unequivocally violat[ing] international humanitarian law.
Cuomo challenged Ocasio-Cortez’s accusations by asking why she did not mention that the pagers were on members of a terrorist organization committed to destroying Israel. He went on to ask if she would have defended Al Qaeda when America was taking them out in Iraq.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Cuomo’s criticism, pointing out that a nine-year-old Lebanese girl was one of two children killed in the pager attacks. She asked what the 9-year-old girl did to deserve this treatment and questioned Cuomo’s assumption that anyone who questions how operations unfold, including civilian casualties, is siding with terrorists.
Cuomo mentioned during his NewsNation show that Ocasio-Cortez’s office in Congress was vandalized by protesters. He noted that her office was “tagged with blood-splattered signs accusing [her] of supporting terrorism.” Despite this, Cuomo continued to assert that Ocasio-Cortez is “dead wrong” about her criticisms of Israel and its use of exploding pagers.
Cuomo argued that Israel is not subject to US laws or rules and maintained that the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual prohibits the “indiscriminate” use of booby traps. He defended Israel’s actions, stating that they were justified because a group of bloodthirsty terrorists were coming for them.
Cuomo further criticized Ocasio-Cortez for not valuing her opponents as “humans” the way she does herself. He pointed out that she failed to condemn the bomb threats made against Rep. Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and mentioned the assassination attempts against former President Trump, questioning whether she values her opponents’ humanity in the same way that she does her own.
The Post has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez for comment on Cuomo’s statements.
