Chris Cuomo snaps at Bill O’Reilly for telling him to keep quiet: ‘It’s my show, pal’

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: NewsNation host Chris Cuomo unloaded on veteran commentator Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday, April 8, as the pair butted heads on air over just how much the US really knows about Iran’s nuclear program.

The showdown erupted as O’Reilly joined Cuomo to break down President Donald Trump’s announcement the day before of a two-week pause in hostilities with Iran and what any longer-term negotiations might look like.

Things got heated quickly when Cuomo pressed O’Reilly on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim at a Wednesday press conference that America has full visibility into Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts.

Nuclear knowledge dispute

Cuomo kicked things off by questioning the certainty coming from Washington.

“Hegseth saying we know exactly what they have. Israel doesn’t say they know exactly what they have,” he said. “Obviously, there was a miscalculation during the initial campaign last summer, and the assessments were grossly exaggerated, if not outright deceptive, but they haven’t had any real monitoring in 5 years.”

O’Reilly fired back by citing International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who on March 22 had spoken about Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.

“No, but the director, Rafael Grossi, on March 22nd of this year, made it very clear that he believes the enriched uranium in Iran stands at 60%. So, why would you say that?” O’Reilly said.

Cuomo insisted the quote was being twisted. “Well, that’s not exactly what he said. He said they have 60–”

O’Reilly shot back, “You want me, alright, I’ve got the quote right here.”

“Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too,” Cuomo retorted. “What’d you think? I’m just going to let you take it out of context? Like you did on your show last night? Not here. Here we’re going to give you the context.”

O’Reilly denied taking anything out of context, but Cuomo doubled down. “Yeah, you did," he said.

O’Reilly referenced Cuomo’s earlier comments that “we don’t know what nuclear capabilities were," adding that "Grossi knows. Grossi knows.” But Cuomo shot back, “No, he doesn’t. No, he doesn’t.”

On-air showdown

Cuomo laid out what he said was the full context from Grossi.

"Here’s what he said. He said that they have 60% enriched uranium. Why? Because Iran said they were going to do it after what they said was Israel hitting one of their enrichment facilities," Cuomo insisted. "They were never able to go in and verify it. The weeks away idea, says Grossi, was a hypothetical that could be enriched further. However, he says, that is only one step in building a usable nuclear weapon that could take additional complex steps that could take months or even years."

O’Reilly tried to push forward, “You can believe what you want to believe but — I’m believing his words.”

Cuomo cut him off, “No no no no — Just say I’m corrected. Let’s move on. And let’s move on, there’s more to talk about.”

O’Reilly refused, “I’m not going to say that because it wouldn’t be true. You made the mistake, and this is the quote.”

That’s when O’Reilly told Cuomo to “keep quiet for a second.”

Cuomo exploded, “No, it’s my show, pal. If you don’t like it, you can go.” 

O’Reilly pressed on about reading the quote, warning it would make Cuomo “look foolish.”

Cuomo fired back, “Read it. Read it. And don’t point. Be a man. Don’t be a big mouth. Read it.”

Cuomo also ripped into O’Reilly for saying he wouldn’t book Hegseth because the secretary “plays into the narrative that the administration wants the American public to believe,” while still trusting Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whom Cuomo mockingly dubbed “Lindsey bomb first, check second Graham.”