‘No Sane Person Would Say Something Like That!’: CNN Debate Goes Off the Rails After Israel and Hamas Comparison

CNN’s Abby Phillip had to step in and refocus a debate that went off the rails after a comparison between Hamas and Israel.

On Saturday’s Table for Five, Lauren Wright, an author and Princeton associate professor, was triggered after Higher Learning podcast co-host Van Lathan called out the right’s “pearl clutching” over progressive liberals like streamer Hasan Piker and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has defended his association with Piker.

“I’m delighted to see a moral center has been found, man, because I thought you guys were the party of Laura Loomer,” Lathan said after both Wright and National Review senior writer Noah Rothman called out El-Sayed over his far-left associations and criticism of Israel.

“Not me. I would say the same thing about those people,” Wright said after Lathan referred to far-right figures like Loomer and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“What I would say, though, to me is that, like, you know, when I look around, not at who the president has surrounded himself with, who the president is and who the president has empowered, and some of the things that these people have said and done, I think it’s best if we kind of get the pearl-clutching out of the way and concentrate on the policy,” Lathan said as Wright jumped back in.

“Pearl clutching?! Pearl clutching?! Putting Hamas and Israel on the same moral footing — that’s pearl clutching?!” she said. “No sane person would say something like that.”

“Well, then, I’m very insane,” Lathan fired back. “Because this is what I’ll say. I’ll say that a lot of people are looking at Israel and its actions since October 7th and don’t see a moral footing for them to stand on and criticize anyone. A lot of the people are look at dead children.”

Rothman then jumped in.

“Well, that’s Hasan Piker’s view. There’s no moral distinction between Israel and Hamas,” he said. “Republicans are thrilled to litigate that issue.”

Lathan continued with a sarcastic jab and argued many people don’t see a major moral distinction between the terror group Hamas and Israel due to Israel’s mass strikes on Gaza, leaving thousands dead:

That’s fine. I’m glad that you guys are thrilled. I am glad that you find joy. We should all have joy in life. But what I’m saying is there are a lot of people in America right now that over the last couple of years have looked at pictures of emaciated children. They know that children have been dismembered, incinerated, bombed, journalists being killed, and they’re not just — they don’t agree with you. And so you’re gonna have to make a case to those people… about how bad they are for not being able to see a moral distinction.

Wright argued Democrats have to make the same case to Jewish voters who see a clear distinction between Israel and a terrorist group.

“And you’ll have to make a case with the Jewish voters who care about the same things happening to kids in Israel,” she said.

Phillip then stepped in to get the conversation back on track.

“I hate to break up this foreign policy discussion, but what about the economy? Because, I mean — and I’m not saying that flippantly — I’m just saying, you know, there is a hierarchy of needs here for the American people,” she said. “And I don’t think there’s really any question that at the top of that list is the economy.”

Watch above via CNN.

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