House

Tapper, Stefanik spar over Trump’s ‘whole civilization will die’ message to Iran

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by Max Rego - 04/19/26 1:47 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/19/26 1:47 PM ET

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CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) had a contentious discussion Sunday about President Trump said earlier this month that a “whole civilization will die” in Iran.

During an interview on “State of the Union,” Tapper referenced college students chanting, “From the river to the sea,” during protests against the Israel-Hamas war and asked Stefanik whether she believes that “wiping out an entire civilization is genocidal and nobody should make a call to do such a thing?”

Stefanik, who is known for her intense questioning of Ivy League presidents on campus antisemitism during a House Education Committee hearing in 2023, replied, “Yes, of course.”

“And that’s why the question I asked, which was, ‘Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct, yes or no?’ I worded it because it was a very simple straightforward question,” she continued. “It was not a political one. And the world heard as these universities equivocated saying it depends on the context or it’s a context-dependent decision.”

Tapper then followed up by asking, “What do you think when President Trump threatened to obliterate the entire Iranian civilization?”

Earlier this month, hours before his administration and the Iranian government agreed to a two-week ceasefire, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” in reference to Iran.

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president continued.

On Sunday, Stefanik defended the president, saying that he was “focusing on the Iranian regime” with that message.

“And what did it do? It brought the Iranians to the table. It led to the ceasefire,” the New York Republican added.

But Tapper pointed out that Trump said the “whole civilization will die,” not that the “regime will be wiped out.” He then noted that he found it “interesting that a 20-year-old college kid on a campus yelling, ‘From the river to the sea,’ that’s worthy of condemnation,” but what the president said is not worthy of condemnation from Stefanik.

“You don’t think it’s worthy of condemnation?” she retorted. “You don’t think it’s worthy of condemnation of students that are targeting Jewish students, that are physically assaulting them, that are spitting in their face, that are drawing swastikas on their doors, these students who have to hire security?”

Tapper, who is Jewish, replied that he does not “need a lesson on what it’s like to be a Jewish student” and later dismissed Stefanik’s assertions that he was “equivocating.”

After Stefanik again criticized the Iranian regime and said the president’s rhetoric brought officials to the table, Tapper asked, “I just think a call for genocide on a college campus and a call for genocide made by the president of the United States, they’re both bad, right?”

“President Trump didn’t call for genocide, Jake,” Stefanik responded. “You are putting those words in his mouth. He is engaging in diplomatic back-and-forth. And what did it do? It brought the Iranians to the table.”

Tapper then accused Stefanik of “changing” Trump’s words by arguing he was targeting the regime in Tehran, to which the congresswoman replied, “You’re adding genocide,” which is “not what [the president] stated.”

“What is wiping out an entire civilization?” Tapper asked, incredulously.

After the interview, Stefanik wrote on the social platform X, “When BOTH the Left and the Right are saying @jaketapper got demolished on TV during our Sunday am segment, it’s a win!” She also thanked Tapper for “selling more copies” of her book, “Poisoned Ivies,” via the interview.

But the “State of the Union” account responded to Stefanik, “We beg to differ,” and linked the entire conversation.

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