Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) got in a fiery exchange with Fox News host Martha MacCallum on Tuesday after she claimed that Iranians broadly support President Donald Trump's genocidal threats.
Khanna joined the conservative network's live broadcast after Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if Iran did not agree to his negotiation by 8 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. He argued that Trump's comments had changed from his initial objectives for entering the Iran war and that America should not make genocidal threats that counter everything the United States stands for.
"You don't have to threaten genocide to get Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz," Khanna said. "We've lost the plot here... The president said he wanted to free the Iranian people, and now he's talking about destroying them."
But MacCallum tried to argue that it wasn't the case.
"I’ve spoken with a lot of Iranian activists who want this," she said.
Khanna pushed back on MacCallum's claims.
"They want him to threaten to wipe out 91 million people?" Khanna said. "This is not a New York real estate deal; he's the president of the United States."
Khanna: You don't have to threaten genocide to get Iran to open up the strait of hormuz. The president said he wanted to free the Iranian people and now he's talking about destroying them.
MacCallum: I’ve spoken with a lot of Iranian activists who want this.
Khanna: They want… pic.twitter.com/ZK2itgpeeX
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2026