Democratic Sen. Chris Coons accosted by far-left journalist on Amtrak: ‘I’m gonna have you thrown off this train’
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) threatened to have a far-left journalist “thrown off” an Amtrak train Monday after the lawmaker was asked about his resistance to calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Delaware Democrat was apparently riding in the quiet car of the locomotive when Grayzone reporter Aaron Mate, who was seated across from Coons, apologized for putting him “on the spot” and demanded to know why the senator hasn’t called for a “cease-fire in Gaza.”
“Who are you?” a confused-looking Coons asks the reporter, who filmed their interaction.
“This is a quiet car and you’re not supposed to be talking to me,” the senator tells Mate after he identifies himself as a reporter.
Coons then appears to scan the train car aisle, looking for someone to help him get out of the adversarial interview.
“Children are dying. US weapons are killing kids in Gaza,” Mate insists.
“Who are you?” Coons asks again before replying, “Nice to meet you, Aaron. Please stop talking to me.”
“Please stop. Please stop. Aaron, you are bothering me and everyone else around you,” the annoyed senator implores Mate, who persists with his line of questioning.
“Sir, can I please have some help here? He’s bothering me while I’m trying to work,” Coons complains to an Amtrak employee.
After further questioning, Coons quickly explains his position on the conflict.
“I’m not going to call for a cease-fire. I strongly support humanitarian pauses. I’ve urged the Israeli government to target their campaign against Hamas,” Coons tells Mate.
“Aaron, please stop or I’m gonna have you thrown off this train,” the senator tells Mate after he continues to quiz him on his resistance to a cease-fire.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
“I’m a senator, this is a quiet car. You’re breaking the basic rules of how we operate on Amtrak, please stop,” Coons reiterates, before finally getting up and leaving his seat nearly 3 minutes after the exchange began.
Mate claimed in an X post after his encounter with Coons that he was “removed from the train” at the next stop.
“After questioning Sen. Coons about his support for Israeli massacres in Gaza, I was asked to move to a different seat. I complied. About 30 mins later, he walked by me. We did not exchange words. At the next stop, in Philadelphia, I was removed from the train. I assume this was done at Sen. Coons’ behest,” he wrote.
Amtrak did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Mate and the Grayzone, an independent media outlet, have been critical of Israel for years, even before the Jewish state’s declaration of war against Hamas in the wake of the terrorist group’s massacre of 1,200 people on Oct. 7. Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory.
The outlet has also published fringe theories claiming that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad did not use chemical weapons during the Syrian civil war and that the Chinese Communist Party is not oppressing the Uyghur community in the Xinjiang province.
A spokesperson for the Delaware senator reiterated what Coons told Mate when asked for comment.
“As Senator Coons said this afternoon, he believes the whole world should unite in opposition to terrorism following Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7,” the spokesperson told The Post.
“While Senator Coons does not support a cease-fire, he has repeatedly made clear that he supports humanitarian pauses to allow for assistance deliveries to Gaza, including hospitals, and has urged the Israeli government to target their campaign against Hamas. He also has repeatedly pushed for the swift release of the hostages Hamas continues to hold,” the spokesperson added.
