Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan laughed at a joke during a Sept. 26 event held in Dearborn, Michigan, about Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida’s injuries from an improvised explosive device (IED) while in combat.
Hasan and comedian Bassem Youssef appeared onstage during the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee-sponsored ArabCon 2025, which featured numerous speakers and panels opposing Israel’s operations against the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas after the deadly terrorist attack on multiple locations in southern Israel Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people. Hasan took aim at Mast, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, during the discussion with Youssef.
“Brian Mast, Republican congressman, wore an IDF uniform to work after October,” Hasan said, with Youssef responding, “He lost his legs, then he lost his balls and his honor.”
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The crowd and Hasan laughed at the joke about Mast, a Bronze Star recipient who lost both legs and his left index finger when the IED detonated in 2010. Mast, an evangelical Christian, wore the Israeli Defense Forces uniform he received during volunteer service in 2015 with the IDF after Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan displayed a Palestinian flag after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“He is one of the most racist members of Congress, and that’s saying something given the strong competition for that title,” Hasan said. “He proposed a bill that would grant the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the authority to strip Americans of their passports if they express certain positions on the Middle East or are deemed to support terrorism.”
Representative Mast did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about Hasan’s claim or the joke.
A Daily Caller News Foundation search of bills and amendments sponsored by Mast on Congress.gov revealed that the only legislation mentioning passports was a bill introduced in May 2024, which authorized the Secretary of State to increase the number of passport acceptance agents and reduce wait times. Mast sponsored bills and amendments to remove funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and to prohibit funds for rebuilding Gaza.
In October 2024, Hasan clashed with conservative podcaster Ryan James Girdusky during a testy exchange on “CNN NewsNight,” which included Girdusky making a joke referencing an Israeli operation that targeted the radical Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah via altered pagers after Hasan called him a “Nazi,” prompting on-air complaints from Hasan. Girdusky was removed from the panel following Hasan’s complaints and host Abby Phillip later addressed the exchange on-air after a commercial break, saying Girdusky was banned from CNN.
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