Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone, I came across a great [00:02] example of [00:05] uh mainstream media being uh [00:08] irresponsible, [00:10] petty, clickbay, [00:12] um dishonest. Uh and of course there are [00:16] tons of these examples, but this example [00:18] was particularly interesting because it [00:20] came in the context of the current war [00:23] with Iran. And maybe you saw this clip. [00:26] It went a little bit viral and I think [00:28] that was the point. and uh I have [00:30] something to say about it. So, let's [00:32] just play the clip and then I'll come [00:33] back and talk. Here we go. [00:35] >> Many in the Jewish community when you [00:37] criticize the college presidents who [00:39] refuse to condemn students for chanting [00:41] from the river to the sea which many [00:42] Jews interpret to be and you agreed you [00:45] characterize as a as genocide, a call [00:47] for genocide to wipe out all the Jews in [00:49] Israel from the river to the sea. So, [00:51] just to be clear, you believe that [00:53] wiping out an entire civilization is [00:55] genocide all and nobody should make a [00:57] call to do such a thing. [01:00] Yes, of course. And that's why the [01:02] question I asked, which was, "Does [01:03] calling for the genocide of Jews violate [01:06] your university's code of conduct?" Yes [01:08] or no. I worded it because it was a very [01:10] simple, straightforward question. It was [01:11] not a political one. And the world heard [01:14] as these universities equivocated saying [01:16] it depends on the context or it's a [01:18] context dependent decision. It is not. [01:20] And we have seen that they didn't think [01:23] there was anything wrong with those [01:24] answers. That's why a billion pe there [01:27] were a billion views of that testimony [01:29] and it created an earthquake in higher [01:31] education and importantly these schools [01:33] are now having to reckon with this. [01:34] That's why earlier in the show when you [01:36] pointed out the Yale report that is a [01:38] step in the right direction is starting [01:40] to address internal issues but let's see [01:42] if there's action taking on taken on [01:45] these university campuses because we've [01:47] had to take very specific steps from the [01:49] Department of Education and from [01:51] Congress to hold them accountable. [01:53] >> What did you think? Okay. So far in the [01:56] interview, Elise Stefonic believes that [01:58] she was invited onto State of the Union [02:00] to talk about this issue that she was [02:03] very prominent in where she was grilling [02:05] the university presidents. Now comes the [02:08] bait and switch. [02:10] >> When President Trump threatened to [02:11] obliterate the entire Iranian [02:13] civilization, [02:16] >> he was focusing on the Iranian regime. [02:18] And what did it do? It brought the [02:20] Iranians to the table. It led to the [02:21] ceasefire. We know that President Trump [02:24] has very strong statements when it comes [02:26] to his tweets, but it has been targeted [02:28] towards the Iranian terrorist entire [02:29] civilization. And it's very important to [02:31] note that the [02:32] >> I'm talking he was focused on the [02:34] Iranian terrorist regime. And Jake, [02:36] isn't it true that it brought the [02:37] Iranians to the table to a ceasefire [02:39] agreement that is it did because they [02:41] had a ceasefire agreement going on for [02:44] days. And President Trump is correct to [02:47] call out the Iranian terrorist regime [02:49] which has financed Hamas and Hezbollah [02:51] which I believe has financing of these [02:54] this skyrocketing of anti-semitism. But [02:56] but that's Jake you can ask this [02:59] question but the reality is it was [03:00] targeted towards the Iranian terrorist [03:02] regime. It was an effective tool to [03:04] bring them to the table. They have no [03:07] cards and frankly we're not going to see [03:09] peace in the Middle East until we get [03:11] rid of the Iranian terrorist regime. [03:13] quote, "Your whole civilization will die [03:15] tonight." He didn't say the regime will [03:16] be wiped out. He said, "Your whole [03:18] civilization will die tonight." And I [03:20] just have to say, it's interesting that [03:22] a 20-year-old college kid on a campus [03:24] yelling from the river to the sea, [03:25] that's worthy of condemnation. But a [03:28] president of the United States who [03:29] actually [03:29] >> You don't think it's worthy of [03:30] condemnation? You don't You don't, Jake. [03:32] You don't think it's worthy of [03:33] condemnation of students that are [03:34] targeting Jewish students, that are [03:36] physically assaulting them, that are [03:38] spitting in their face, that are drawing [03:39] swastikas on their doors. I don't need a [03:41] lesson. have to hire security. I don't [03:44] need a lesson on what it's like to be a [03:45] Jewish like those university president. [03:47] No, I'm not equivocating at all. I'm not [03:49] equivocating with those university [03:50] presidents said about Trump's tweets is [03:53] it has been very targeted. I am not [03:55] equivocating. I have been crystal clear. [03:57] >> No, not when it comes to college, but [03:59] when it comes to a president threatening [04:01] to wipe out an entire civilization, [04:03] >> I'm saying this you you're applying two [04:05] different standards Iranian terrorist [04:06] regime. Everyone seems to understand [04:08] that, Jake, except for CNN. And what did [04:10] it do? It brought the Iranians to the [04:12] table delivering a ceasefire and frankly [04:16] bringing this terrorist regime to its [04:18] knees. It has been very important for us [04:20] to address frankly this conflict that [04:21] has been going on for decades. The [04:23] terrorist regime that is not only [04:25] hijacked the straight of Hormuz but has [04:27] been the number one state sponsor of [04:28] terror. Yes, the president delivers [04:31] tough diplomacy. But what he has [04:34] delivered is ultimately we will see [04:36] peace in the Middle East. Better off. I [04:38] just think a call for genocide on a [04:39] college campus and a call for genocide [04:42] uh made by the president of the United [04:43] States like they're both bad, right? I [04:45] mean that that's that's what I think. [04:47] >> We are condemn I've condemned genocide [04:49] across the board. The difference with [04:50] those university presidents is they [04:52] couldn't answer the simple direct [04:54] question. Does calling for the genocide [04:56] of Jews viol? President Trump didn't [04:58] call for genocide, Jake. You were [05:00] putting those words in his mouth. He is [05:02] engaging in diplomatic back and for [05:06] the table and we should No, we it's the [05:08] terrorist regime, Jake. He's targeting [05:10] the terrorist words. You can continue [05:13] the the decades long. You're But you're [05:15] adding genocide. That's not what he's [05:17] wiping out an entire civilization. [05:19] >> The university presidents. I [05:20] specifically asked them about calling [05:22] for the genocide of Jews. Again, the [05:25] president is correct to call out the [05:28] Iranian terrorist regime, to bring them [05:30] to the table, to force a ceasefire, and [05:33] frankly to free the Middle East from [05:35] this largest state sponsor of terror [05:37] that has not only that has not only [05:39] killed American lives, but has targeted [05:42] Israel and the United States of America, [05:44] including a very simple question, our [05:46] elected officials [05:48] >> is calling for wiping out a [05:49] civilization. He is is calling for [05:52] wiping out entire civilization terrorist [05:54] regime. [05:56] >> But that's not what he's saying. [05:57] >> Of course, it's bad. That is not what he [05:59] is calling for. He wasn't calling for [06:00] genoc. [06:10] This is typical CNN. [06:11] >> Okay. [06:12] >> If you want to compare the president of [06:13] the United States to the university [06:14] presidents who failed to call for the [06:16] condemnation of calling for the genocide [06:18] of Jews, that's on you, Jake. the world [06:20] saw how morally equivocating those [06:23] university presidents were. Yes, you're [06:24] the one that is that it's it's not a [06:27] comparison. So if you want the same [06:31] standard for something that is not the [06:32] comparison, [06:34] >> of course, genocide is bad across the [06:36] board, Jake. President Trump effectively [06:38] brought the Iranians to the table. He [06:40] effectively delivered a ceasefire and he [06:42] is going to effectively deliver peace to [06:44] the Middle East to stop, frankly, the [06:46] killing of the Iranian terrorist regime, [06:48] which kills their own people. and has [06:50] created havoc across the Middle East. [06:52] >> We have people who actually supported [06:55] the strikes against Iran, Iranian [06:57] Americans and Iranian advocates on the [06:59] show all the time and they all were [07:03] horrified when President Trump called [07:05] for a genocide of the Iranian to to [07:08] quote unquote wipe out your entire [07:10] civilization [07:11] of the Iranians. It's targeted towards [07:13] the Iranian terrorist regime. It's been [07:16] consistent throughout, Jake. And again, [07:18] that has brought the Iranians to the [07:21] table. A and let's talk about the [07:23] Iranians have killed tens of thousands [07:25] of their own people. So, if you want to [07:28] prop up the Iranian terrorist regime, [07:30] that's on you. The president has been [07:32] very effective in calling out the [07:34] Iranian terrorist regime. [07:36] >> Got it. [07:36] >> Go ahead. [07:37] >> No, I just I'm not I'm not defending [07:40] anything. I'm not defending anything. [07:42] I'm saying it's all bad. Calling for [07:44] genocide. calling for wiping out [07:45] civilizations. Whether it's some [07:47] knucklehead on a college campus or [07:49] Makmoud Khalil or this person or that [07:50] person or President Trump, all of it's [07:52] bad. Congresswoman Elise Defonic, thank [07:54] you so much. [07:54] >> President Trump was not calling for [07:56] genocide. Shame on CNN for saying that. [07:59] >> I read the quote. Thank you. [08:01] >> I'm sorry I put you through that. Uh but [08:04] I think there's actually a serious point [08:05] here which I'll get to in a few minutes. [08:06] So we have Jake Tapper here on CNN with [08:11] with the Representative Elise Stefanic. [08:12] Now, before I give you my full reaction, [08:14] let's just be honest about what we're [08:16] watching. [08:17] This is, of course, not journalism. It's [08:20] a hit job. He invited her on to talk [08:22] about her book about the Ivy League [08:24] schools. And look what he does right [08:27] now. Tapper is a smart guy. He's been [08:29] covering geopolitics and American [08:31] foreign policy for decades. So, let's [08:33] not insult each other's intelligence [08:35] here. Jake Tapper did not read Trump's [08:38] truth social post about Iran and [08:41] genuinely think to himself, "Oh my god, [08:43] the president of the United States is [08:45] planning a genocide against the Iranian [08:46] people." He's he's saying that he [08:48] thought that or he's saying that that's [08:50] what Trump must have meant. He didn't [08:51] think that. Nobody thought that. You [08:54] have to not be paying attention to [08:56] anything to think that. What after Trump [08:59] said help is on the way and talked about [09:02] how appalled he was. Just besides that, [09:05] does anyone really think that Trump was [09:07] planning to wipe out civilian Iranians? [09:09] Like it's just he doesn't. But this is [09:12] the key point. Jake Tapper doesn't think [09:14] that. [09:16] The Iranian people didn't think that. [09:19] The Iranian leadership didn't think [09:21] that. No one thought that. [09:25] They came to the table. [09:28] And that's and that's part of the and [09:30] that's a very big point here. You see, [09:35] Trump's goal was to message to the [09:38] Iranians. [09:40] And this, if you listen to the way these [09:43] Middle Eastern regimes talk, the way the [09:45] Iranians themselves talked leading up to [09:47] the war, all their bluster, all their [09:48] tough talk, Trump, Trump is the first [09:51] president to come along and understand [09:52] how to deal with them. [09:55] And he knows that dealing with them the [09:58] way Western diplomats have always dealt [10:00] with them where you act all proper and [10:02] western and you and you telegraph [10:04] everything that you're doing and you and [10:06] you talk politely and you have your and [10:08] you have your negotiations and you shake [10:10] hands and you say that everything's [10:11] going nicely [10:14] that it plays to their benefit. [10:18] It plays to their benefit. And that's [10:20] why the Iranians have always have always [10:22] run circles around Western negotiators. [10:25] And along comes Trump and he talks their [10:28] language. [10:29] He gives them deadlines. He gives them [10:31] threats that he then carries out. Okay? [10:35] He was talking to them. You know what [10:37] this reminds me of? Israel uh when they [10:40] launched their attacks against recently, [10:43] they named the operation Eternal [10:45] Darkness. [10:47] And uh I heard from from some people I [10:50] know in the US in US media, I'm not [10:53] going to name names, who reached out to [10:54] me and said, you know, that's it sounds [10:56] so harsh and barbaric. Why why is Israel [10:59] calling it eternal darkness? You know, [11:02] like like what is this some kind of uh [11:04] you know, overly aggressive? [11:08] And I was like, this isn't this isn't [11:11] for you. You're not the desired [11:12] audience. You're not the in sorry, [11:13] you're not the intended audience of that [11:15] title. We're messaging to the Shiite [11:18] Muslim leadership ofah and you have to [11:21] talk tough with them. You have to give [11:23] them credible threats and it has to be [11:24] harsh. You have to This is part of how [11:27] to operate well in the Middle East. [11:31] Strength and intimidation [11:33] matter in the Middle East. [11:36] But Jay Kapper knows all of this. Okay? [11:38] He knows all of this. He's a smart guy. [11:41] Here's what Tapper was thinking. here's [11:43] an opportunity to get Alis Stefanic to [11:46] sit in the chair to talk about her book [11:50] about the Ivy League schools. And he [11:53] gets her to agree reasonably and [11:55] correctly that genocidal language is [11:57] unacceptable. And then he springs the [12:00] gotcha trap, right? Suddenly Trump's [12:02] pressure rhetoric against the terror [12:04] sponsoring regime in Iran is the moral [12:07] equivalent of students harassing Jewish [12:09] kids on college campuses. And of course, [12:11] Jake Tapper's Jewish. She says, "Oh, you [12:13] don't have to tell me about being [12:14] targeted as a Jew." And he says that [12:16] he's not whitewashing what the students [12:18] do. But he actually is. You see, here's [12:20] the problem. Because everyone knows that [12:22] Trump didn't really mean a genocide and [12:25] didn't mean he's going to destroy a [12:27] civilization. Because everyone knows [12:30] that by Jake Tapper saying, "Well, [12:33] what's the difference between that and [12:34] students saying from the river to the [12:36] sea?" What he's basically saying is if [12:39] Trump didn't really mean that, then [12:40] these then these students maybe didn't [12:43] mean that either. [12:46] What's the difference between Trump [12:47] saying this and students saying that? So [12:49] yes, he was doing it to catch her in [12:52] some sort of inconsistency, which is [12:54] nonsense. [12:55] But the the net result is that he gives [12:58] a pass to those students chanting [13:01] genocidal rhetoric on the campuses. [13:05] Tapper knows all this, okay? This is [13:07] pure gaslighting. The agenda is [13:10] transparent. It's to make Elise Stefanic [13:13] squirm and to generate a clip that says [13:17] CNN anchor Jake Tapper challenges [13:19] Republican on Trump genocide comments. [13:22] Oh, wait a second. Wait a second. Wait a [13:23] second. Oh my gosh, it actually worked. [13:27] Take a look at the Mediite headline. We [13:29] have a headline in Mediite. Jake Tapper, [13:32] look at this. Jake Tapper grills Elise [13:34] Stefanic on Trump's call for genocide in [13:36] fiery CNN showdown. He said the entire [13:39] Iranian civilization will die. [13:42] You see that Jake Tapper got his wish. [13:44] He got an article written up about it. [13:46] He he he challenged her, [13:51] right? That's this is that's exactly [13:54] what he was doing. This is pure [13:57] gaslighting, clickbait nonsense. [14:01] Now, why am I doing this? Why am I [14:03] talking about this? There's actually a [14:04] very serious side of this. [14:08] Okay, look, the actual subject that Alis [14:10] Defana came out to talk about, the [14:12] university presidents who couldn't find [14:14] the moral clarity to say that calling [14:16] for Jewish student genocide violated [14:18] their codes of conduct, gets completely [14:20] buried here. And the story becomes Jake [14:22] Tapper challenging Ali Stefonic [14:26] because that's all he cared about here. [14:30] See, but here's what here's what really [14:31] bothers me, and this is really why I'm [14:33] making this video. I'm making this video [14:35] because you come to this channel for [14:37] good intelligent political analysis [14:40] and good analysis of the dynamics of [14:42] this war. [14:45] Okay. [14:47] what Trump was doing and that projection [14:49] that that intimidation factor that that [14:53] talking the language of the Iranians [14:56] with this tough talk [14:58] making it clear that he's that he's [15:00] making very harsh threats [15:04] which is so necessary. [15:08] What he was doing is actually undermined [15:10] by what Jake Tapper is doing. It has [15:13] real consequences. It's not just petty [15:15] gaslighting. [15:17] Allow me to explain. Iran Iran has very [15:21] sophisticated media operations. [15:24] Okay, they we know that if you watch [15:26] this channel, I I follow Iranian state [15:29] media all the time [15:31] and I talk about how they message. [15:34] I read Iranian state media every day. [15:36] They watch American media very closely. [15:40] They comment on divisions within the [15:42] American political sphere and what the [15:44] nature of those divisions are. So when a [15:47] prominent American anchor on CNN frames [15:52] the president's negotiating posture as [15:54] genocidal extremism [15:58] while there's this situation going on of [16:02] diplomacy pressure blockade [16:05] it's a gift to the hardliners in Thran [16:07] because what they see is this fiery [16:09] exchange CNN major media and they start [16:14] believing or it deepens their belief [16:17] that America is divided [16:20] and that this is a and that and that [16:23] Trump is being is being viewed [16:25] negatively [16:28] and that the the harsh rhetoric of Trump [16:32] is not playing well to America which is [16:34] nonsense. it's not playing well to Jake [16:36] Tapper and Mediite [16:39] and it tells them that the president is [16:41] politically [16:43] maybe exposed and it makes them less [16:45] likely to fold. It makes them less [16:48] likely to give into the pressure. They [16:49] try to um take advantage of these [16:52] fissures [16:54] in in the American political space. Now, [16:56] I'm not saying, "Look, there's freedom [16:58] of of the press. There's freedom of [16:59] speech. They could say whatever they [17:01] want. [17:02] But if you really believe it, fine, say [17:04] it." But Jake Tapper doesn't even [17:06] believe what he's saying. That's the [17:08] point here. [17:10] He's trying to be clever with this [17:11] little ambush where he gets her talking [17:13] about the genocidal talk of college [17:15] students and then flips it around. Aha. [17:18] But if you think it through, [17:23] even if it was unintentional, he's [17:25] actually causing damage [17:28] because it means that his [17:31] his instinct to score points against [17:34] Trump was more important to him [17:39] than [17:41] the possibility that [17:44] that [17:45] implying that there are many Americans [17:49] who honestly believe that their [17:50] president had genocidal intentions. [17:52] Implying that, saying that on TV, he he [17:55] basically said it. He said, "We had [17:56] people on and they were all appalled." [17:58] Saying that there are many Americans who [17:59] believe that Trump has genocidal [18:02] intentions [18:04] emboldens the Iranian position and that [18:06] could deepen the conflict. That could [18:08] prolong it. [18:11] So Jake Ter is being not just he's not [18:14] just gaslighting and being dishonest. [18:17] He's not just being petty. He's also [18:19] being grossly irresponsible. [18:23] Right. Thanks for watching. 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