The popular, pro-Trump influencers known as the “Nelk Boys” got an earful from comedian Bassem Youssef during a recent discussion about the influencers’ softball interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In recent months, the prime minister has sought to make inroads with right-wing podcasters to combat a growing bipartisan outrage in the U.S. toward his government’s stranglehold on Gaza, which has left 60,000 dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. One such effort, a recent softball interview with the Nelk influencers, drew criticism from across the political spectrum for having the appearance of blatant propaganda.
To give you a sense of how soft an interview it was, the chat at one point shifted to a discussion of Netanyahu’s preference for Burger King over McDonald’s, which interviewer Aaron Steinberg called the Israeli leader’s “worst take.” The podcasters also platformed Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas is stealing food aid, a claim that senior Israeli military officials have said is unsupported by evidence.
After that interview, one member of the Nelk crew, Kyle Forgeard, said Netanyahu’s team “gave us a script to ask [questions] but we didn’t really follow it.” Then, during a subsequent podcast featuring Egyptian American comedian Bassem Youssef, who is a staunch critic of Israel, Forgeard expressed regret about the interview, saying that “we should have grilled [Netanyahu] 50,000, 100,000 times harder” and “it’s something we can’t get back.”
Youssef responded that the men (who are in their 30s despite the juvenile name) don’t deserve a pass for their ignorance and that they need to stop infantilizing themselves.
Youssef said:








