On its website, the PBS News Hour has a fundraising pitch claiming “Independent journalism takes investment.” That’s a hoot! It's apparent on most nights that the News Hour is not at all “independent,” but sounds like MS NOW, like a publicity wagon for Democrats. Take anchorman Geoff Bennett’s wiffle-ball interview with Rahm Emanuel, a potential 2028 president candidate.
The first question was open-ended: “In your speech to Israelis, you said the relationship between the U.S. and Israel needs a new direction. What more, in your view, needs to change?”
The second question wasn’t actually a question, it was a “say more” prompt: “This 23-state solution, normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab League tied to Palestinian statehood, say more about why you think that would be more successful than the two-state diplomacy that has failed for decades.”
This answer is the worst one, that somehow the Arab League has failed three times to get the Palestinians to accept peace with Israel, but Emanuel is somehow hopeful that maybe it won't be refused a fourth time. Keep hope alive? That's the "realistic" foreign policy?
The third question, another tee-ball: “You said that Israel's conduct in Gaza has been reckless and careless with Palestinian life. What should the U.S. have done differently while that war was under way?”
Then came the gentle Democratic Party inquiry:
On PBS News Hour, Geoff Bennett the Butler cues up Rahm Emanuel to suggest the collapse of support for Israel in America isn't a Democratic Party problem, it's a Netanyahu problem. He's crashed the car. He's wrecked the relationship. pic.twitter.com/QvV6vEZYfb
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) July 10, 2026
“As you well know, support for Israel has fallen sharply among Democrats. This is especially true among younger voters. How do you see this shift showing up politically in the midterms and beyond that in the 2028 election?” Emanuel insists this isn't a Democratic Party problem, that they have a burgeoning pro-Hamas faction. No, it's Netanyahu's fault. He "crashed the car." He wrecked the alliance.
Does anyone think Bennett is someone the Democrats bite their fingernails in anxiety before coming on PBS? Or is he just a soothing news butler?
Only the fifth question acknowledged the Hamas mass murder in 2023:
BENNETT: It strikes me we should make clear as part of this conversation for folks listening that Israel, yes, suffered the deadliest attack in its history on October 7. It still faces existential threats from Hamas and Hezbollah and from Iran.
Many Israelis believe that the world has lost sight of that. How do you navigate criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's policies while still recognizing the extraordinary security threats that country faces?
Emanuel said yeah, sure, "they're not wrong about the security challenges" -- when you have people who explicitly state they want an end to Israel -- but as always, "diplomacy is the right tool." Like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and Obama and Biden solved the Palestinian problem -- which is why diplomacy works? Who is having trouble accepting reality? Surely, PBS is on that list.
