‘It Is Disingenuous’: Fox Anchor Throws Down With Ro Khanna Over His West Bank Visit Story

Fox News anchor Gillian Turner sparred with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on Monday over his recent trip to the West Bank, during which he claims he was accosted and detained by Israeli settlers. Khanna grabbed headlines over the weekend with the trip, which comes amid fierce criticism over Khanna’s staunch support for Graham Platner, who abandoned his U.S. Senate bid last week amid a rape allegation.

“Sir, did you really not know that going into a restricted military area guarded by local security forces was going to result in your entourage getting stopped?” Turner asked the progressive Democrat.

Khanna replied, “It was not an area that was restricted by the military. American congresspeople had been there before. We went—”

Turner cut in to make clear that members of Congress had been there “with prior coordination.”

“With prior coordination, sir,” she added.

“If I could just finish, please, because this should be an outrage to any American citizen — what happened. We were there seeing the Zenuda village, which had been destroyed, burned to the ground. Many American members of Congress had been there before,” Khanna said, adding:

We drove up to the road, and these hoodlums with M4s started kicking the tires. They yelled insults. They said it didn’t matter that we were Americans. And then the IDF came and they blocked the road. There’s breaking news video released just this morning that shows those IDF officers siding with the settlers against the Americans. Many, even conservatives, have said, “How dare they do this to an American passport holder” — not just me, four Americans. And we need the arrest of these people who detained us, who threatened our lives.

Turner pushed back, “Congressman, it is disingenuous to call those local security officials ‘random settlers.’ These are people who operate in the area regularly. Further, sir, I have to point out that other members of Congress have visited this area, but with prior coordination. We understand that your team did not do that.”

“That’s false. We had informed the Israeli embassy. The only reason our lives were saved is because of the excellent work of the American embassy,” Khanna replied, adding:

David Brownstein — who you can also ask about this — had at first told us, “Just don’t engage with these violent settlers.” And we told them, “We’re with the American Embassy.” They didn’t care. They said, “Who cares that you’re American? We don’t care that someone’s in Congress or a government official.” And that’s what they said to the IDF. They were taking the side of the settlers who were detaining and threatening Americans over the side of the Americans.

Turner added, “Again, the Israelis, sir, say it was IDF officials coordinating with local security on the ground there. Here’s part of a statement from the IDF: ‘Troops were dispatched to the scene, quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the blocked road. The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road.’”

Khanna replied, “People should look at the video. First of all, there was a New York Times photographer with us. There were journalists with us. There’s a detailed account. But people should look at the video — the video shows the IDF soldiers blocking us and detaining us. And the only reason we’re safe — and I give incredible credit to the American Embassy career staff, David Brownstein — is that he called someone senior in the Israeli government, and finally, 75 minutes in, they sent a police force. Then the violent settlers left and the IDF left and let us through. It was because of his efforts that American lives weren’t lost. But the reality is that this was an unprecedented, illegal detention of Americans.”

Turner then played a clip of Israel’s U.S. ambassador saying Khanna and his team did not coordinate their trip with local officials.
“Sir, why did you not coordinate with Israel on this, knowing they are staunch allies of the United States, knowing the recent history of the October 7th massacre — and most importantly, why did you decline to meet with Jewish survivors of the Hamas terror attacks on October 7th?” Turner asked.

Khanna hit back, “The ambassador is lying. We did inform them as well.”

Turner pushed back, “Sir, at a certain point, if everybody is lying —”

As they spoke over each other a bit, Turner listed, “The IDF is lying, the U.S. Embassy is lying — at a certain point — you have now said the ambassador is lying.”

Khanna hit back, “I praised the U.S. Embassy. The ambassador is blatantly lying. And the reality is that we did coordinate with Israel. How else did I get through and back? I had been to Israel three times before.” He added:

I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I met with Prime Minister Bennett. Ask Jon and Rachel Polin, who tragically lost their son Hersh — I was fighting for Hersh’s release as a hostage. I met with them many times. But I told the Israeli government that I wanted to go on a Palestinian-led trip to the West Bank, because I had already made three trips to Israel — I had gotten Israel’s perspective — and that on this trip, I was going to go to the West Bank for a Palestinian-led visit for three days.

They knew that. And the point is: just because an American politician wants to hear the Palestinian side, that does not give Israel the right to have violent settlers detain Americans with passports. That does not give Israel the right to have the IDF detain us. It’s not just me — Tucker Carlson and others have said this is outrageous, that this is happening to an American citizen. I’ve traveled to China, I’ve traveled to Saudi Arabia, I’ve traveled all over the world. This has never happened to American passport holders before. You may disagree with me on my ideology, but as Americans, we should make clear: no country —

Turner hit back, “I don’t disagree with you on your ideology, sir. I have no stake in this. It’s a question of following the facts here. It’s a question of listening to official statements from the government there. It’s also the reality of going into what was a restricted area without any prior coordination.”

Notably, both the U.S. embassy in Israel and Israeli officials said Khanna did not coordinate his trip with either party on the ground – instead making arrangements with pro-Palestinian activists.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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