Senator Chris Van Hollen, one of the first US senators to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and for blocking US arms exports to Israel in compliance with US law, joins Mehdi live on stage at DC’s historic Howard Theater, in front of an audience of Zeteo subscribers, to discuss Gaza, AIPAC, deportations, Trump, El Salvador, and everything in between.
On the heels of Zeteo’s latest documentary release, ‘Who Killed Shireen?’ Mehdi starts by asking the prominent Democratic senator, who was also interviewed as part of that film, about Joe Biden’s failure to seek justice for slain Al Jazeera correspondent, and US citizen, Shireen Abu Akleh. “The Biden administration failed, not just Shireen and her family, but failed the country, our country, and the world by not pursuing accountability in that case,” he tells Mehdi.
The two also discuss Biden’s disastrous legacy on Gaza. “Every time I saw him [Biden], I would raise the issue of what's happening in Gaza, the human rights catastrophe in Gaza, and urge him to use some leverage, which he didn't,” says a frustrated Van Hollen, adding that “what happened in Gaza will be the great stain on the Biden administration’s foreign policy.”
When Mehdi asks whether the senator lost local support or experienced pressure because of his position opposing further arms sales to Israel, Van Hollen answers: “AIPAC has been running ads against me in Maryland for about a month. And you know what I say? Too bad... You're not going to persuade me to stop voting in a way that supports human rights.”
Human rights at home, and the battle to defend the Constitution and due process, are also issues that have put him in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. The senator recently visited El Salvador after the unlawful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a resident of his state, and Van Hollen stresses to Mehdi that his visit was not just about Garcia, but something much bigger: “I'm not vouching for the man Abrego Garcia. I'm vouching for his rights, because if you take away his rights, you jeopardize the rights of everybody in this room, and everybody in America.”
Upon wrapping his trip to El Salvador, Van Hollen tells Mehdi that his return trip was rather unusual, given the not-so-veiled threats against him from members of the Trump administration: “I was in the strange position where my family was worried, they were more worried about what would happen when I came back to the United States, than what might happen to me in El Salvador.”
Paid subscribers can watch the full interview above to also hear what the senator thinks about the Democratic Party’s future, his own possible presidential ambitions, and regrets over voting to confirm Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.
Free subscribers can watch a 7-minute preview. Do consider becoming a paid subscriber to Zeteo and never having to hit another paywall again.
“If we can't fight to defend the Constitution in the United States, I don't know what we can fight for.” - Senator Van Hollen at Zeteo’s live show on Monday
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