Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas during a tense CNN interview – insisting it was “disingenuous” for the anchors to demand his position on the terror group.
The outspoken Palestinian activist, who was detained for over three months by the Trump administration for his prominent role in often-times violent Columbia University protests, dismissed co-anchor Pamela Brown’s repeated grilling over his views on Hamas as both “absurd” and hypocritical.
“Do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their actions on October 7?” Brown pressed the 30-year-old who appeared on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” Tuesday morning.
A tongue-tied Khalil replied that he condemns the killing of “all civilians, full stop,” but not Hamas.
Brown interrupted Khalil and asked again if he would disavow “Hamas specifically.”
Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the… pic.twitter.com/nC2WCR6Dul
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 22, 2025
“No, I am very clear with condemning all civilians. I’m very straight in my position in that part,” said Khalil, who was visibly flustered, later blasting the question as “selective outrage.”
“But it’s disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel. It’s not condemning October 6, where 260 Palestinians were killed by Israel before October 7,” he continued.
“So I hate this selective outrage of condemnation because this is not, this wouldn’t lead to a constructive conversation. And this is also, like what we want to deal with is the root cause of why that happened. And it’s no way anyone can justify the killing of civilians.”
Brown pushed back on Khalil’s claims, arguing that her question was justified after the Trump administration accused him of sympathizing with the Palestinian terrorist group responsible for the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, while he was studying at the Ivy League.
He replied that he was “simply” protesting the war in Gaza.
“That’s my duty as a Palestinian, as a human being right now, is to ask for the stop of the killing in my home country. And that’s consistent with who I am,” Khalil said, noting he’s a “firm believer in international law and human rights.”
“As I said, disingenuous and absurd to ask such questions…That’s why I wouldn’t really engage much into such questions on condemnation or not. Because selective condemnations is not, wouldn’t get us anywhere. It’s just like hypocrite, to be honest.”
Blitzer then stepped in and ended the heated back-and-forth.
Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities on March 8 and spent 104 days at a Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent resident.
The administration said Khalil engaged in activities “aligned to Hamas.”
Khalil, who is now suing the federal government for $20 million over what he claims was false imprisonment and a smear campaign to label him as an antisemite, drew fresh backlash after the interview – with the Department of Homeland Security blasting him as a “terrorist sympathizer.”
“Mahmoud Khalil refused to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one,” DHS wrote in a fiery post on X, arguing that the green card holder “branded” himself as an antisemite “through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.”
“The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”
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