Monday’s Good Morning America showed snippets of ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis’s interview with former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, who was recently released on bail from ICE detention. Despite Khalil’s ties to pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas protests, (and laws that contradict ABC’s statements) they still painted him as a father who was wrongfully arrested for peacefully protesting.
Davis lamented to Khalil:
DAVIS: A federal judge ordered his immediate release on bail over the weekend. The Trump administration argues his continued presence in the United States poses a threat to foreign policy and he participated in protests that fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. [TO KHALIL] The White House has said that you distributed pro-Hamas flyers. Secretary Rubio said that you created an environment of harassment towards Jewish students. President Trump said "we’ve got to get him the hell out of our country." Why do you think that you are perceived as such a threat?
KHALIL: Because, I represent a movement that goes against what this administration is trying to do. They tried to portray me as a violent person, they tried to portray me as a terrorist, as some fanatic, but not presenting any evidence, not presenting any shred of -- of -- of credibility to their claims.
Khalil said that the Trump administration arrested him because he “represents a movement that goes against what this administration is trying to do.” He’s right! The Trump administration believes there’s no place for Hamas sympathizers and anti-Sematic foreign exchange students in America’s universities.
Khalil was a negotiator and spokesperson for the Columbia University Apartheid Divest. In their official substack, the CUAD offers what can only be described as a manifesto of Jewish hate and the reverence of terrorism.
The post favored a wild set of beliefs, including, defunding public safety officers, and the NYPD having been trained by the Israeli Occupational Force, and used their forms of terrorism and torture on black and brown people. They then called the October 7 attack on Israel “heroic” and praised the “heroic resistance fighters of Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen.” The page then delved into a multi-paragraph tribute to the killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — the mastermind of the October 7th attacks — hailing him as a hero.
According to U.S. Code § 1182, it listed all aliens who are inadmissible and ineligible to receive visas and in turn, ineligible to be admitted to the United States. The law stated in clause (B) (iv) (bb) that anyone who was “a representative of a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity,” can have their visas revoked and be removed from the United States. “Representative” in this context includes an officer, official, or spokesperson. Remember that Khalil has admitted to being a spokesperson for the CUAD.
While this clause doesn’t apply specifically to green card holders, it can still be used as grounds of removal if the person was found to be supporting terrorism.
Davis then glossed over the multiple reports by Jewish students of anti-Semitism and physical assault: “Khalil was one of the leaders of campus demonstrations at Columbia in the spring of last year, protesting the war in Gaza. Some Jewish students reported anti-Semitic incidents. So there is no place, you would say, for anti-Semitism in the pro-Palestinian movement?”
This allowed Khalil to spin a comically false narrative: “There is no place for any form of racism, including anti-blackness, anti-Semitism, in the Palestine movement.”
Khalil was the spokesperson for CUAD, this group used Zionist and Jews interchangeably and essentially called for the destruction of Israel. This, of course, breeds hate and anti-Semitism within the protests, for him to claim there’s no place among an obvious hate group is ignorant. How can you be the spokesperson and not have knowledge of all of this going on?
The full transcript is below. Click "expand" to view:
ABC's Good Morning America
7:42:46 AM EST
June 23, 2025
WHIT JOHNSON: Back now with Columbia graduate, and pro-Palestinian activist, Mahmoud Khalil in his first broadcast interview since his release on bail from ICE detention. Khalil spent more than three months in custody, becoming a father in that time, and ABC News Live Prime anchor, Linsey Davis, sat down with him. Linsey, good morning.
LINSEY DAVIS: Hey, good morning to you, Whit, and he says that is the hardest part in all of this, that he missed the birth of his firstborn child. Born in Syria to Palestinian refugees, Mahmoud Khalil came to the U.S. to study at Columbia University. It was there that he became the first high-profile arrest under President Trump’s crackdown on students who joined campus protests opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, and now he says the President is trying to make an example of him. This morning, Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist, Mahmoud Khalil, is back home after 104 days in ICE detention.
MAHMOUD KHALIL: I think that moment is indescribable. It's basically a combination of full of joy, but also is this really happening?
DAVIS: A federal judge ordered his immediate release on bail over the weekend. The Trump administration argues his continued presence in the United States poses a threat to foreign policy and he participated in protests that fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. [TO KHALIL] The White House has said that you distributed pro-Hamas flyers. Secretary Rubio said that you created an environment of harassment towards Jewish students. President Trump said "we’ve got to get him the hell out of our country." Why do you think that you are perceived as such a threat?
KHALIL: Because, I represent a movement that goes against what this administration is trying to do. They tried to portray me as a violent person, they tried to portray me as a terrorist, as some fanatic, but not presenting any evidence, not presenting any shred of -- of -- of credibility to their claims.
DAVIS: DHS lawyers also claimed he misrepresented information on his green card application, allegations he denies. Khalil’s detention in March by federal agents in the lobby of his university residence is captured on this surveillance video.
KHALIL: I felt like I was literally kidnapped. All the [inaudible] rights that I indulge myself into felt like nothing because at that moment, ICE made it clear that you have no rights whatsoever.
DAVIS: Khalil’s wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, an American citizen, gave birth to their son, Dean, in April. ICE denied Khalil’s request to be at his wife’s side during the delivery.
KHALIL: That’s the most cruel thing any administration would do. Clearly, I was not danger to the community, they could have afforded me the opportunity to be with my son. [in April 2024] This is a movement, an anti-war movement.
DAVIS: Khalil was one of the leaders of campus demonstrations at Columbia in the spring of last year, protesting the war in Gaza. Some Jewish students reported anti-Semitic incidents. [TO KHALIL] So there is no place, you would say, for anti-Semitism in the pro-Palestinian movement?
KHALIL: There is no place for any form of racism, including anti-blackness, anti-Semitism, in the Palestine movement.
DAVIS: The Trump administration is appealing a judge’s decision.
KHALIL: It’s a very — very long fight. It may take years, but I will focus on is continuing to advocate for Palestinians.
DAVIS: Khalil says that he now fears for his and his family's safety, but he says that will not stop him from speaking out and advocating for the plight of Palestinians. In fact, he took to the streets just yesterday, near Columbia’s campus, where crowds gathered to hear him speak, and you all can hear more of our interview with him tonight on ABC News Live Prime, starting at 7pm.
JOHNSON: We'll be watching. Fascinating conversation, Linsey, thank you.
