First posted on Instagram
New Jersey Rep.-elect Adam Hamawy is facing backlash after repeatedly refusing to describe Iran as an adversary of the United States during a CNN interview on Tuesday, telling anchor Pamela Brown that Washington had pushed Tehran into a fight and that America should be making friends instead of adversaries.
The exchange came on CNN’s The Situation Room, where Brown asked Hamawy directly: “Do you see Iran as the adversary and Israel as an ally to the US?” Hamawy answered: “Well, now what I see is that we were pushed into this war by Israel. It’s not helping Americans. Americans didn’t ask for it. It’s illegal. It’s immoral. And at this point, I think the United States and the Iranians want this war to end.”
When Brown pressed him again — “But are they the adversary?” — Hamawy replied: “We should be making friends.” Brown noted that Iranians have chanted “death to America” for decades. Hamawy answered: “We’ve been saying ‘death to Iran’ for decades as well. And so what we need to do is use diplomacy.” When Brown pointed out that Iranians have killed Americans, Hamawy said: “We’ve killed a lot of them as well.”
Asked once more, “So you don’t see Iran as an adversary?” Hamawy said: “I see that we are pushing Iran into a fight when we have the leverage to kind of bring them to the table.” He added that he does not agree with the Iranian government, calling it “an authoritarian government. It’s a dictatorship. It is not good for its people,” and argued the war should be ended diplomatically, as the Obama administration did. He also said he opposes U.S. military aid to Israel, including funding for the Iron Dome.
Hamawy, a Democrat and former U.S. Army combat surgeon, easily won last week’s election to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman in New Jersey’s 12th District, becoming the first Muslim from New Jersey elected to Congress. He won with 70 percent of the vote and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Hamawy’s past associations drew scrutiny during the campaign. In 1994, he interned with the Benevolence International Foundation in Bosnia. The now-defunct organization was described in the 9/11 Commission Report as having covertly provided support for terrorist activities. Hamawy was never accused of wrongdoing involving the foundation. He also met the late Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as “the Blind Sheik,” in the early 1990s and later testified for the defense at Abdel-Rahman’s trial, arguing that remarks attributed to him had been taken out of context. More recently, he volunteered at a hospital in Gaza in 2024.
His answers echoed those of Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democrat who declined during a debate last month to say whether Israel or Iran posed the greater threat to the United States.
Hamawy’s comments have sparked a debate over how incoming members of Congress view America’s relationship with Iran and Israel, with tensions involving Tehran remaining a major national security concern. The post that first carried the story asks whether every incoming member of Congress should be pressed to clearly explain where they stand on Iran and America’s allies.