What did she think was going to happen? On Thursday’s CBS Mornings, South Africa-based senior foreign correspondent and raging anti-Israel partisan Debora Patta tried to embarrass U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee over America’s steadfast support for Israel (and lack thereof for “Palestine,” aka Hamas).
In the portion shown, it started poorly for Patta from the get-go as she first wondered: “President Trump said there’s real starvation in Gaza and he appeared deeply troubled by images of starving children. Have you been similarly moved?”
Huckabee didn’t flinch, alluding to numerous AI images and the misleading July 25 front page of The New York Times: “I’m moved when the photos are verified.”
“But they are real images,” Patta insisted, to which Huckabee countered he believes “certainly people” are “suffering in Gaza,” but the reason for that lies with Hamas because they have not “allowed the food to get to the people who are hungry.”
Of course, Huckabee was right and it has been the case for some time despite anonymous sources claiming Hamas hasn’t stooped that low. Even going back to just weeks after Hamas’s barbarism on October 7, 2023, an NBCNews.com article from October 25 of that year estimated the terror group had a military budget of anywhere from $100 million to $350 million.
None of this mattered as, in Patta’s world, Jews are to blame: “We spoke to the World Food Program and they have not been shown any evidence of this at all.”
Huckabee sarcastically batted this aside, saying he was “shocked they would say that.”
Patta shifted to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), the source of much consternation in the anti-Israel press and suggested it was more or less a front for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to slaughter Palestinians for sport:
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: We spoke to the World Food Program and they have not been shown any evidence of this at all. What they’re saying —
HUCKABEE: I’m shocked they would say that.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: — Ambassador, the U.S. has thrown its support and money behind GHF.
HUCKABEE: It’s a U.S. program.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: And, yes, it’s a U.S. program and yet every single day, there are people dying near GHF sites.
HUCKABEE: Tell me about the people dying at the sites. In what way?
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: You have no reports of anybody being killed near a GHF site?
HUCKABEE: No, we’ve had reports that there have been incidences, but forgive me if I’m a little skeptical when someone says these people are being killed at the GHF sites, and if there was some random shooting of people who are coming for food, those people would be consequenced severely.
PATTA: According to the U.N., over 1,400 people have been killed trying to get food. Mostly they say by IDF gunfire and nearly 900 near GHF sites.
The last portion aired was perhaps the best part as Patta passed along the argument from her pals that Jews are committing a 21st century genocide on Arabs: “Increasingly strong language is being used about Israel’s prosecution of this war, including from Israeli organizations, even accused of genocide.”
Huckabee wasn’t having it: “If Israel is attempting genocide, they’re really, really bad at it. They could have had genocide on October the 8th. If they were trying to commit genocide, it would not have taken them 22 months to do it.”
To see the relevant CBS transcript from August 7, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
August 7, 2025
7:15 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israel-Hamas War; Amabassador Huckabee on War in Gaza]
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: In the Middle East, the Israeli government is considering a full takeover of Gaza in its battle to destroy Hamas. That led to this protest last night at the gates of Israel’s military headquarters with protesters demanding a ceasefire and the return of hostages. Debora Patta spoke to U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee this morning about the war and humanitarian crisis.
DEBORA PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: President Trump said there’s real starvation in Gaza and he appeared deeply troubled by images of starving children. Have you been similarly moved?
AMBASSADOR MIKE HUCKABEE: I’m moved when the photos are verified.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: But they are real images.
HUCKABEE: Oh, I think that there are certain people suffering in Gaza. It’s happening because Hamas hasn’t allowed the food to get to the people who are hungry.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: We spoke to the World Food Program and they have not been shown any evidence of this at all. What they’re saying —
HUCKABEE: I’m shocked they would say that.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: — Ambassador, the U.S. has thrown its support and money behind GHF.
HUCKABEE: It’s a U.S. program.
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: And, yes, it’s a U.S. program and yet every single day, there are people dying near GHF sites.
HUCKABEE: Tell me about the people dying at the sites. In what way?
PATTA [TO HUCKABEE]: You have no reports of anybody being killed near a GHF site?
MIKE HUCKABEE: No, we’ve had reports that there have been incidences, but forgive me if I’m a little skeptical when someone says these people are being killed at the GHF sites, and if there was some random shooting of people who are coming for food, those people would be consequenced severely.
PATTA: According to the U.N., over 1,400 people have been killed trying to get food. Mostly they say by IDF gunfire and nearly 900 near GHF sites. [TO HUCKABEE] Increasingly strong language is being used about Israel’s prosecution of this war, including from Israeli organizations, even accused of genocide.
HUCKABEE: If Israel is attempting genocide, they’re really, really bad at it. They could have had genocide on October the 8th. If they were trying to commit genocide, it would not have taken them 22 months to do it.
PATTA: Now, we asked Ambassador Huckabee what the U.S. position was on potential plans being discussed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to seize and occupy the whole of Gaza. He said that is a decision only Israel can make. Gayle?
GAYLE KING: All right, thank you very much.
