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The debate about whether Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip constitutes genocide reached South Florida airwaves over the weekend when a Local 10 reporter got into an argument over the word with Florida Senate hopeful Oliver Larkin.
Running under the Democratic Socialists of America party for Florida’s 25th District, Larkin was making an appearance Sunday on WPLG Local 10 when This Week in South Florida host Glenna Millberg began asking about his stance on sending tax dollars to Israel. The clip has since gone viral, with one post gaining more than million views in less than a day.
In an interview with New Times, Larkin said he thinks the dispute initially began as a misunderstanding.
The conversation began as you’d expect most political interviews to go, with Millberg asking about Larkin’s affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party and outlook on important topics like healthcare and immigration enforcement. The conversation got contentious when Millberg shifted topics to Larkin’s stance on “defunding” Israel, which she argued is an important topic for District 25’s large Jewish population.
Initially, Larkin answers by arguing the Israeli government privileges Jewish people over Palestinians, which cause Millberg to cut off Larkin for the first time to say that wasn’t factual.
Millberg asked Larkin again to explain why he’d take U.S. funding from a “state which has an existential threat all around it,” leading Larkin to say, “Israel is committing a genocide.”
She quickly cuts him off, saying once again, “That is factually incorrect,” before Larkin continues, “It has been regarded by the United Nations and Amnesty International, even Israeli human rights organizations including B’Tselem.”
Millberg then asserts the “UN has said genocide does not apply” to the situation in Gaza, and, “actually genocide is being committed against Jewish people, not by Israel. And that’s just a fact.”
“The United Nations recently in Geneva found that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) had deliberately targeted women and children,” Larkin replied. “There’s been famine conditions imposed over the Gaza Strip by the blocking of aid entering the strip. There’s been indiscriminate bombing of hospitals, of mosques, of churches …”
Millberg then cuts off Larkin a third time, saying “that’s not factually correct,” but doesn’t offer evidence to the contrary. She then indicates producers were telling her to wrap up the segment before telling Larkin she hopes his “viewers will be able to hear him flesh that out a little more.”
The interview can be seen here.
While it is common for reporters to cut off a source when they say something incorrect or confusing, it’s less common to see a source get fact-checked on air, and even less common for the fact-checking itself to contain inaccuracies.
According to an investigation published by the UN in October 2025, a legal analysis conducted under the UN’s definition of genocide found the State of Israel is responsible for the commission of four genocidal acts in Gaza with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”
A thread posted to X by someone who purportedly emailed Millberg about the issue appears to show her admitting Larkin was right about his and the UN’s use of the word “genocide.”
Neither Millberg nor Local 10 responded to emailed requests for comment.
Larkin told New Times via video call if he hadn’t been cutoff, he would have offered more receipts showing international (and even Israeli) organizations that have referred to Israeli’s military actions against Palestinians as “genocidal.”
“And I want to be very intentional with the use of the word genocide, which is an internationally agreed-upon term that means more than ‘disproportionate war-time action,'” Larkin tells New Times.
While he is vehemently against the Israeli government’s recorded history of military acts against Palestinians and our nation’s role in sending $174 billion in “assistance and missile defense funding” since 1948, Larkin wants to clarify those beliefs are totally separate from his feelings about the Jewish faith.
Larkin recently faced claims of antisemitism after Republican social media provocateur Laura Loomer got a Fort Lauderdale venue to cancel a pro-Larkin rally over claims the event was rooted in anti-Jewish sentiments. While that link to antisemitism came because the event included an appearance by U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian and practicing Muslim (whom the House of Representatives voted to censure in 2023 relating to “antisemitic statements and anti-Israel remarks“), this isn’t the first time he’s faced misconceptions about his views on Jewish people.
During his campaign, Larkin learned a prominent Boca Raton rabbi (and devout Republican) was encouraging congregants to switch party affiliations to Democrat specifically so they could vote against him. Larkin reached out to reassure him that his opposition to the acts of the Israeli government are totally separate from his feelings about people of Jewish faith.
“And antisemitism is a very real threat which has grown in recent years. Under the (Ron) DeSantis administration, we’ve seen the Neo Nazis feel emboldened to hold public rallies, we’ve seen antisemitic acts, and racism against Black people,” Larkin said. “And with the second-highest Jewish population for a congressional district in the U.S., it’s important that our Jewish community feels safe to practice their faith in South Florida.”
