Ex-NYC Mayor Throws Down in Heated Spat With Fox News Anchors Over Calling Netanyahu a ‘War Criminal’

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) got into a heated exchange right at the start of a Monday morning interview on Fox News when he branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “literally a war criminal.”

De Blasio was defending comments made by current NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), who last week had to walk back his vow to arrest Netanyahu when he comes to The Big Apple, when he made the accusation.

“I think [Mamdani] drew attention to the fact that Netanyahu is literally a war criminal,” de Blasio said. “This guy’s policies led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian children, and that defines a war crime to me and so many people around the world.”

His claim set off both America’s Newsroom co-anchors.

“Are you the defining factor?” Dana Perino asked. “Like, are you the authority for what is a war criminal?”

“Look, the international criminal court should mean something,” de Blasio said, referring to the ICC issuing a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest due to alleged war crimes.

Perino reminded de Blasio the U.S. is not part of the ICC. The liberal ex-politician chuckled and reiterated, “it still should mean something.”

“To who?” Perino shot back.

De Blasio, “Look, what do you call a leader who authorizes this kind of killing?”

Perino, “Was he responding to something that happened to the Israeli people on October 7th?” She went on, asking, “Does Hamas put innocent people in harm’s way?”

De Blasio admitted it was a “horrible” terror attack, but Israel’s response was unjustified. He also admitted Hamas puts Gazans in danger, but asked Perino, “You think if Hamas does something wrong, it means Netanyahu and Israel can do something worse?”

Perino told him Hamas was at fault for both starting the war and putting innocent Gazans in harm’s way.

The former mayor went on, saying “two wrongs don’t make a right” and Netanyahu was unpopular in his own country.

Co-Host Bill Hemmer then jumped in after watching the Perino-de Blasio fireworks for a moment.

“So you came on our show today to call Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal?”

“I didn’t come here to call him that, you asked me a question,” de Blasio said.

Hemmer then told him he wasn’t buying the war criminal claim. “If he were guilty of genocide, people in Gaza would be wiped out. They’re not, they’re living there,” he said.

Watch above.

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