Over the years, Coleman Hughes and I have had several discussions and debates on a wide range of topics. Since October 7, Hughes has become one of the country’s most stalwart and vocal defenders of Israel and U.S. support for it. He was thus a natural fit for Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, where he is now a columnist and also hosts an interview program.
Last month, we announced a debate about Iran, Israel, AIPAC and more that had been scheduled for April between the two of us in New York, but that (and the entire debate series of which it was a part) ended up being cancelled by event organizers for various logistical and budgetary reasons. Coleman thus asked if I would come on his program to discuss the topics we had been scheduled to debate. I agreed, and we recorded it on Monday. I think it was a fruitful debate — contentious, to be sure, but also civil and substantive— and you can watch the full show through the player below.
Events in the Iran War are moving quickly. President Trump is clearly attempting to signal to restless bond and oil markets, as well as an increasingly war-opposed American public, that he is aggressively negotiating an end to the war. But that would require both a genuine desire on Trump’s part to end it, as well as the willingness of the Iranians to do so. As thousands of American troops continue to be sent into that region, and with the Israelis hungry for far more war, both of those conditions are very much in doubt.
We will have a new report on the latest war developments either today or tomorrow. For now, here is the full debate I had with Hughes: