As Twitchy reported on Tuesday, Rep. Jasmine Crockett used a hearing on the ideological capture of the Smithsonian Museum to inform a Yale history professor about the racism inherent in the World Cup. Actor Javier Bardem decided to slum it and appear on Mehdi Hasan's podcast, where we learned that the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina was sort of a proxy match between Israel and Palestine, and Spain's victory was a defeat for Israel, given Israel's "loud support for Argentina."
"In many ways, this game, Argentina-Spain, was almost a proxy for Israel vs Palestine, rightly or wrongly."@BardemAntarctic and @mehdirhasan discuss why Spain’s World Cup win was a defeat for Israel, given the latter’s loud support for Argentina. pic.twitter.com/ZQqYoavuZ8
— Zeteo (@zeteo_news) July 20, 2026
But, in another, more accurate, way, it is not. https://t.co/i1OX4X4DkA
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) July 21, 2026
If you are watching Spain v Argentina and think, “This reminds me of a war started by one side committing a pogrom,” you are genuinely dumb.
— Legal Phil (@Legal_Fil) July 20, 2026
Just to add, even if you are sufficiently demented that yesterday’s game made you think “this is just like the Gaza War,” you’d have to be certifiable to associate Israel with the team playing dirty from the start and Hamas with the team that was restrained and tactical.
— Legal Phil (@Legal_Fil) July 20, 2026
And in another, even remotely sane way, it was definitely just a game of ball kicking.
— Ilija Vojnovic (@Ikan999) July 21, 2026
If you need someone to make a nonsensical comparison between Gaza and something completely different, Mehdi is your Huckleberry.
— Joel Schamber (@JoelSchamber) July 21, 2026
I assume he's in a Speed situation where if he doesn't mention Israel at least once every minute his studio blows up
— Thrillho (@odie_twts) July 21, 2026
Mehdi’s entire personality is this now.
— Tsukkomi (@ljenkins314) July 21, 2026
First of all, Spain is a real place.
— Matt Wright (@mattwr) July 22, 2026
Recommended
When was the last time Palestine won anything?
— Sir Winston the Nazi Slayer (@SirNaziSlayer) July 21, 2026
Just four years ago, @mehdirhasan was all in for Argentina.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) July 21, 2026
Then Israel broke his brain, so now he roots for Spain.
That's what Antisemites do, not true fans. pic.twitter.com/AJPIhijcCF
In many ways, this game had nothing to with Middle East politics and was, simply, a soccer championship.
— Learner's Permit To Kill (@LrnrzPrmt2Kll) July 21, 2026
The insane genocidal racism of these clowns is just stunning.
— The Cunning Linguist (@TafkaTrap) July 21, 2026
There is so much demand for antisemitism in Islam that Muslims assigned a team to be the Jews so they could be racist against them.
— YA (@YesternightPost) July 21, 2026
It was just a soccer match. Stop trying to make it more than it really was.
— Brent Block (@bblock1924) July 22, 2026
Hasan posted this on his own media outlet's account, so he must have thought it was extraordinarily profound.
***