Appearing on Fox News, Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton let the mask slip a bit, admitting the fight was never really about protecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Tom Cotton doesn’t want you to think this is about Netanyahu. In fact, he’ll tell you himself: it isn’t. Responding to Zohran Mamdani’s threat to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant if Netanyahu shows up in New York for the UN General Assembly, Cotton let the actual stakes slip — it’s not about protecting Israel’s prime minister, it’s about making sure that same warrant authority never gets pointed at Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, or Marco Rubio somewhere down the line. Call it pre-emptive war criminal insurance.
“Second, he talks about the International Criminal Court: well, that’s a kangaroo court, but ultimately it’s not about Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel, it’s about arresting Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio in the future if they ever travel abroad,” he said out loud.
Here is the statement NY Mayor Mamdani made that made Republicans lose their shit.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026