top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 224 points 2 years ago (90 children)

The exchange:

Mehdi Hasan: We looked at your social media, and you haven't done that many posts specifically calling out Russian attacks on civilian areas. You haven't called Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but you have called Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.

Jill Stein: No, actually, we did. Yeah. In my very first remarks about the Ukraine war, we condemned —

Mehdi Hasan: Vladimir Putin is a war criminal?

Jill Stein: Yes, we did condemn —

Mehdi Hasan: And Bashar al-Assad is a war criminal?

Jill Stein: Yes, in so many words, yes, we have said as much.

Mehdi Hasan: So you called Netanyahu one, which I think he is.

Jill Stein: Oh, absolutely.

Mehdi Hasan: Is Putin a war criminal?

Jill Stein: So what we said about Putin was that his invasion of Ukraine is a criminal and murderous war.

Mehdi Hasan: And he's a war criminal who should be on trial?

Jill Stein: Well, by implication.

Mehdi Hasan: You're struggling here to say something very simple. This is why people have their doubts about you with Russia. Why is Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal but not Vladimir Putin?

Jill Stein: Well, as John F. Kennedy said, "We must not negotiate out of fear and we must not fear to negotiate." So if you want to be an effective world leader, you don't start by name calling and hurling out that.

Mehdi Hasan: So how will President Stein negotiate with Israel then, if you've called Netanyahu a war criminal?

Jill Stein: Well, because he very clearly is a war criminal.

Mehdi Hasan: Oh, so Putin clearly isn't a war criminal?

Jill Stein: Well, we don't have a decision, put it this way, by the International Criminal Court.

Mehdi Hasan: Yes, we do. Yes, actually, actually, you're wrong. There's an arrest warrant for Putin and there isn't an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, so why is Putin not a war criminal, but Netanyahu is?

Jill Stein: Yeah. Well, let me say this. We are sponsoring that war. We are sponsoring Netanyahu. He is our dog in this fight. That is why we have a responsibility to pull him back.

Mehdi Hasan: No disagreement from me at all. It still doesn't answer my question. Whether we sponsor them or not is irrelevant.

Jill Stein: With Russia it's far more complicated.

Mehdi Hasan: Either you're a war criminal or you're not. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

Jill Stein: In so many words, yes he is.

Mehdi Hasan: I don't know "what so many words" — Butch [Ware, Stein's running mate], is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

Jill Stein: Let me say that whatever you think he is —

Mehdi Hasan: It's not about what I think. I'm asking you. You're running for President.

Jill Stein: If you want to pull him back, if you are a world leader, you don't begin your conversation by calling someone a war criminal unless you have a…

Mehdi Hasan: So why have you called Biden and Netanyahu war criminals?

Jill Stein: Because we have a clear strategy and we have very strong support across the world.

How is it more complicated, Jill? The lady doth protest too much

  • source
  • hideshow 95 child comments
  • [–] 164 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Would be nice if more politicians were subjected to dogged follow-up questions like this. Instead the press just lets them deflect and ramble and change the subject.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] [S] 117 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Mehdi Hasan is from the UK and that's how they do political interviews in Britain. Like you, I wish we did it in the U.S.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (4 replies)
  • [–] 67 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    i really need more people to be aware this is who jill stein has always been. she focuses on the liberatory language of green politics but in practice is a fascist. there are two ways to view this. either she's an idiot who thinks she can deal with putin, or she knows exactly what she's doing and is in favor giving a genocidal maniac more power because it benefits her personally

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 40 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    She's a grifter so it really would not surprise me to learn that she's taken daddy putin's propoganda dollars.

    Remember how she raised a bunch of money in 2016 to do a recount and then never did? Yeah. That's what grifting looks like. She had no legal way to actually accomplish the task she was fundraising for which is every bit as bad a selling someone snake oil.

    She and the green party exist solely to extract money out of credulous idiots who buy the lie that voting for her does anything.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] [S] 33 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It's always amusing seeing her fans try to explain this photo without suggesting she's pro-Putin.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Oh wow, that's a terrible photo. I didn't know about it, but given the recent tenat media lawsuit I figured russia pumping money into the green party wasn't crazy. They were more than willing to dump $5 mil on idiots like tim pool and dave rubin so why wouldn't they also pump a bunch of money in long shot candidates like Stein.

    Heck, they've done it in the past via the NRA.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Why was the reporter asking her tough follow up questions? It doesn't match what I usually see. Is Jill Stein bad because she can't afford to pay for easier interviews? For real though, I wish every "big name" was treated this way.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • load more comments (85 replies)
    [–] 55 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Uh. Second. Putin LOVES his pet Trump.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 48 points 2 years ago (87 children)

    It’s not just Jill Stein, it’s a lot of people you see talking about Gaza as some blood curdling atrocity, but they don’t have the same level of empathy or consideration for Ukrainians. The anti-Israel propaganda is just being used to drive the Muslim and progressive vote away from Dems. I think it’s turning out to be successful.

  • source
  • hideshow 87 child comments
  • load more comments (87 replies)
    [+] 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)
    load more comments (1 reply)
    load more comments
    view more: next ›