“President Biden's inaction, given the suffering in Gaza, is shameful,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland tells Mehdi on this week’s ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’. “I mean, there's no other word for it.”
It’s not often that a top Democratic senator and long-term party loyalist unleashes on a sitting Democratic president, but Van Hollen – who has been critical of the US’s unconditional support for Israel since October 7th – doesn’t hold back in this wide-ranging and exclusive conversation with Mehdi and Zeteo.
“If the president doesn't mean what he says,” about holding Israel to account for the lack of aid going into Gaza, adds Van Hollen, “then he should stop saying it because he looks so weak.”
For the Maryland senator, Biden has “essentially been played by Netanyahu from day one. And every time the President of the United States says ‘this is what we the United States think is in our interests, please do it,’ he gets the back of the hand from Netanyahu and refuses to take any action.”
Van Hollen also criticizes the Biden-Harris administration for failing to uphold the humanitarian aid deadline they set for Israel last month, which has now passed, and questions their motivations.
“My concern is this was a political attempt to try to send a message to voters a month ago that, ‘oh, the president really does care about the situation,’” Van Hollen tells Mehdi.
Watch the full and eye-opening interview above to hear more about Senator Van Hollen’s top concerns over a second Trump presidency, whether Democrats have alienated working class voters, and what he made of the Harris campaign touting their endorsement from Dick Cheney.