A US Senator was badgered by a partisan extremist masquerading as a”journalist” on an Amtrak train who relentlessly pestered him about the conflict in Gaza. At one paint, having had enough, the Senator threatened to have him thrown off…which apparently eventually did happen.
Senator Coons Harassed By “Journalist” in Amtrak Quiet Car
US Senator Chris Coons (D – Delaware) has followed in the steps of his former colleague President Joe Biden in taking the Amtrak to work. The ride between Washington, DC and Wilmington, Delaware is about 70 minutes on Acela, Amtrak’s high-speed train.
Coons was on a journey home and took a seat in one of Amtrak’s quiet cars, which as its names implies, is a carriage that prohibits the use of mobile phones and is generally supposed to be a quiet area in which conversations are also muted.
The so-called journalist writes for Grayzone, a publication that stretches so far left it reaches the far right, with pro-Syrian, pro-Russian, and pro-Chinese propaganda as its mainstay talking points.
Just as the publication questions the right of Ukraine to defend itself against Russia and questions whether China isactually is guilty of any human rights violations against Uyghur, it has expressed doubt taht Israeli has a right to defend itself.
When the journalist spied Coons, he sat down, began recording, and began talking to him.
Sen. @ChrisCoons sat across from me on the train. With Israel using US weapons to kill thousands of Palestinian civilians, including 4600+ children, I asked him why he refuses to call for a ceasefire: pic.twitter.com/uW7oBBX0Il
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) November 13, 2023
Coons: “This is a quiet car and you’re not supposed to be talking to me.”
Aaron: “I know it’s a quiet car, and I apologize for abusing. I understand, but children are dying. Children are dying, sir. More than 46, why not call for a cease-fire? They’re being killed with our weapons. U.S. weapons are killing kids in Gaza.”
But Aaron continued to badger him.
Coons: “Aaron, please stop. Please stop. Aaron, you’re bothering me and everyone else around. Please stop. I’m asking you to stop. This is not an appropriate place for you to interview me. You’re bothering everyone else around us.”
But then Coons decided to answer anyway.
Coons: “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, but you need to stop.”
The badgering continued.
Coons: “Aaron, please stop or I’m gonna have you thrown off this train. I’m a senator, this is a quiet car. You’re breaking the basic rules of how we operate on Amtrak, please stop. Please stop doing this. You’ve asked me 10 times. You’re getting as professional, measured and appropriate an answer out of me as you can. This is not professional journalism. Please get up and leave now.”
Later, Aaron alleged that he was removed from the train:
“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.”
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… pic.twitter.com/Odbr36CJJx
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) November 13, 2023
This timeline does not make sense to me considering a train between Washington and Wilmington does not stop in Philadelphia in either direction.
Coons’ office defended the Senator:
“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. While Senator Coons does not support a ceasefire, 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.”
My response: throw the joker off the train, and I don’t mean Coons.
As I said when Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D – Arizona) was badgered by a constituent at National Airport, the issue is time and place.
Have people no respect any more? Can an elected official have no peace when sitting on an airplane or train? I find the self-serving showboating from this “journalist” beyond the pale. Respect personal space, please. Even for public servants. He answered your question: now back off.
CONCLUSION
Senator Coons was confronted then badgered on an Amtrak train by a partisan “journalist” who refused to accept Coon’s thoughtful and well-reasoned statement on any possible ceasefire in Gaza.
The fight for truth is a real struggle and forces like Grayzone are at work to obscure it. This is but another testament of it.
image: @aaronjmate / X
Never heard of this Senator but I applaud him for the way he handled the situation. Actually, his only mistake was to start a conversation with this douchbag. Too bad he was not kicked off the train in the middle of nowhere.
It’s tough to manage one’s emotions in high stress situations normally inside of one’s comfort zone. The senator is relaxing on a train and is confronted with a mic in his face.
My honed instincts in these matters is to always involve a person of authority to handle it. He should have stated it’s a quiet zone and given a single warning. Then when the “journalist” continued get up silently and seek out a conductor without further comment. Don’t even tell him he’s getting a conductor, just do it.
It’s a neat allegory for flying on a plane: You give miscreants one warning (if that) and then hit the FA call button.
Regarding taking Acela: One would almost think that Joe Biden was on the Romancing the Stone bus to Cartagena surrounded by peasants carrying livestock by how much he yammered about it. Acela trains are more expensive than the regional line albeit not that much faster, IMO and it’s my understanding that their commute is paid from the general government travel fund. It’s not an imposition to take Acela particularly since it’s a walk from the Capitol building vs needing to take a flight or drive which takes considerably longer for that route. Heck, it’s my suspicion that the NE corridor is funded precisely because so many senators and congressmen love that route!
It’s a mere 70 minutes on Acela between DC to Delaware versus 2 hours by car and perhaps longer by plane after factoring in wait times.
As someone that used to take Amtrak everyday as a form of commute, I can attest that the NE corridor sucks. It is horrible and when compared to trains in Europe. Outdated, slow, expensive, delayed, etc… But, I agree that it makes sense since a flight adds so much more complexity due to security checks, time to get into airports, etc… Acela is nice but very expensive even more than planes sometimes. But in case it is probably more convenient.
I’ve only taken the DC-Philly train a few times and one of those had a massive 3 hour delay and I cursed that my colleagues had driven the I95 route without issue but it was the luck of the draw. Sometimes someone stops to change a tire on the I95 and it’s backed up for miles with rubberneckers.
In Europe, most of the routes have 3 tracks that allow for maintenance and re-routing in case of outage. The Silver Line from DC to IAD cost about a half billion dollars and is two tracked, no express. The NE corridor shares line with freight rail (which gets priority since they own those sections and even some local commuter trains.
“One would almost think that Joe Biden was on the Romancing the Stone bus to Cartagena surrounded by peasants carrying livestock by how much he yammered about it. ”
Truly fantastic!
I’m no fan of Mate’s, but lets set that aside. Who in their right mind gets persuaded by this (if that really was the goal)? Get in his face on the train with a camera like that, in the quiet car no less, youre ending the conversation before its begun. (Same applies to Sinema, Ted Cruz and others in recent years.) Coons handled that extremely professionally, he had more patience than I would have.
I’m sure Mate got the clicks he wanted though, so mission accomplished.
Huh? How about try this again with some semblance of proofreading. The first one I can piece together what yoh mean. The second, I genuinely have no idea. Other than maybe you are confused about what “left” and “right” are.
“the Senator throated to have him thrown off…”
“publication that stretches so far left it reach the far right, with pro-Syrian, pro-Russian, and pro-Chinese propaganda as its mainstay talking points.”
In the circle of life and politics, the far left eventually meets the far right. Why do you think RFK Jr appeals so much to both far left and far right.
And dude, you knew what I meant.
Thanks for the fair, even-handed article. Now could you please go back and edit it? Love reading back-to-back typos in the first paragraph as usually that’s a sign I can move on to better written items (“at one paint… throated to get him off”).
I applaud the Senator for the way he handled this. And I applaud Amtrak.
The point is: Regardless of the identity of the two people, if someone behaved as the “journalist” did on Amtrak, they would and should get the same consequences. I have seen people thrown off the train for being bothersome in the quiet car or just talking too loud, if they wouldn’t stop.
Perhaps I am mistaken, but Acela does stop at the Philadelphia 30th street station and Wilmington. Anyway, the jerk journalist violated the rules and it is my understanding that an Amtrak conductor can order the train stopped anywhere to evict a passenger.
You are correct, but Philadelphia is beyond Wilmington, so traveling between Washington Union and Wilmington would not involve a stop in Philadelphia…unless Coons was somewhere else.
Got it, thanks.
Yikes… “israel” has a right to defend itself. Where delusion and fiction meet.
Thank Christ for AdBlock.
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Props to the commenters. I was afraid there would be a panoply of crazy admirers of the jerkwad reporter. Instead, everyone has agreed that his intrusion was wrong.
“I’m gonna have you thrown off this train. I’m a senator”
See, that’s what I don’t like. He thinks he’s more powerful than the citizen, and he’ll use his power to throw him off. I just can’t feel bad for a Senator who is gifted millions of dollars from Wall Street for his campaign getting upset and being disturbed by a line of questioning he doesn’t like.
Does he have a right to be left alone? I’m not sure. He shouldn’t be harmed, but I think we have a right to challenge and pester our leaders for answers. Certainly our Senators.
It’s just challenging for me to feel sympathetic towards any of the 535 members of both houses because they have the power to make our lives better, but they refuse to do so.
Yup. I agree with basically everything you said. The fact that Matt tried to compare this to the Sinema situation is kinda bothersome though. I mean it’s one thing to pester, and another to follow someone into a restroom. Even if they are only there to get away from you. There aren’t many places I feel like should be “off-limits”, but that would be one of the few.
If i want political news I will go to another site. Why are you posting this???
Because it involves trains, i.e. travel.
In 2023, “partisan journalist” is a redundant phrase.
The senator probably got off in Wilmington, and the next stop on the Acela is Philadelphia. He did not say the senator was still on the train, just that he suspects the removal was initiated by the senator.
It was probably decided (per conductor in chief ) that the jerk journalist be evicted in Philadelphia, a later stop, so he could not further harass another passenger. I would imagine other security was consulted. The conductor holds amazing power from olden times. So this could explain the timeline issue.
Oklahoma’s US Senator Mullin wanted to get into a fist fight or cage fight with Teamsters Union leader at a Senate hearing chaired by Sen Sanders very recently. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and I have seen some contentious stuff and then some before that wasn’t on CSPAN.
It’s a quiet car, and the Senator said he didn’t want to talk. Makes sense.
For what it’s worth, the guy badgering him on the train says on his Twitter feed that he was
“blocked by the head of Joe Biden’s new ‘Disinformation Governance Board’”.
This creepy looking assclown would have never been a Senator if the GOP didn’t put up horrible candidates that are far right lunatics. In this case it was some crazy tea party lady who had a history as a witch.
They are their own worst enemies and history will repeat itself in 24 sadly.
I’m sure you’re quite the sleeping beauty.
He’s better looking than the horse faced Ted Cruz.
Ha. Just Minute Maid.
I’m pleased to see someone else suggest that the extreme left and right are indistinguishable. I use the analogy of a globe; move further east/right and west/left and, eventually, the two points will meet up
Glad to see a member of the blood soaked Predator Class made a little uncomfortable. I do sympathize with those who want passivity toward the oligarchy, though.
Question the guy when he gets off the train. The rest of us want peace when we travel.
The intrusion may have been wrong, but asking a US Senator who is backing a government (Israel) bombing REFUGEE CAMPS in Gaza and killing hundreds of innocent Palestinian children and females daily with US Weapons is valid in my book, no matter his particular stance on politics…