Mehdi Hasan Slams Biden’s Apparent Willingness to ‘Wreck’ and ‘Sacrifice’ Presidency for Netanyahu: ‘It’s Crazy’

February 28, 2024 @ 6:02 PM

Former MSNBC anchor Mehdi Hasan spoke out against President Joe Biden on Wednesday for continuing to support Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite growing calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.

“I think it’s crazy that Joe Biden is willing to wreck his presidency, potentially, and American democracy if Trump gets back in, for Benjamin Netanyahu,” Hasan told CNN anchor Jake Tapper. “A man who has, basically — I can’t find the daytime language for it — has done bad things to every Democratic president in my lifetime … and now Biden can sacrifice his own presidency for who? For Bibi?”

Hasan was invited to talk about the Michigan primary, where 100,000 Democrats on Tuesday chose “uncommitted” instead of voting for Biden, a protest suggested by Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

“Here is a very explicit aim to get a cease-fire in Gaza. That is what a lot of voters in Michigan want — and it’s not just Muslim Americans and Arab Americans,” he said, pointing out that progressive and younger voters also chose to vote uncommitted. Notably, Dearborn, Michigan, is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States per capita.

“100,000 votes is a lot in a state that Biden won by 150,000 and Hillary [Clinton] lost by 11,000,” Hasan noted. “They’re neck and neck at the polls. If you’re not alarmed by what’s happening in Michigan and you’re a Democratic strategist, you should be.”

Tapper called the turnout “a muscle flex” that sent a message that said “listen to us.” He then asked Hasan what it would take for “most of those voters to come back into the Democratic fold. A cease-fire? What else?”

“A lot of those voters, a significant number of those voters are probably lost,” Hasan replied. “They’ll go third-party or stay at home. If you are somebody in Dearborn who’s lost 20 or 30 members of your family in Gaza, are you going to show up to vote for Biden even if there’s a cease-fire tomorrow? You can’t expect that.”

He added that several more voters, however, viewed this vote as “an act of pressure” to change Biden’s position. “They don’t want to vote for Trump,” Hasan explained, “they just want to see the best version of Joe Biden and of America. They want a cease-fire. They want a stop to the killings.”

Hasan ended his segment by saying he is “skeptical” that Biden will back a cease-fire, concluding, “But I think the White House realizes that they need to do something here.”

Also on Wednesday, the former MSNBC host announced the launch of his own media company, Zeteo, which means “to seek” in Greek. He left MSNBC in January.