In a March 9, 2026, episode of Fox News’ The Five, Greg Gutfeld expressed fury over the March 7 attempted ISIS-inspired bombing outside NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Gracie Mansion residence. Two men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, hurled homemade IEDs, which contained TATP and shrapnel, at protesters during an anti-Islam rally and counterprotest; the devices failed to fully detonate, injuring no one.
They allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and aimed for an impact greater than the Boston Marathon bombing. Gutfeld criticized police restraint, arguing post-9/11 caution against perceived Islamophobia spared the suspects’ lives, contrasting U.S. strikes on Iranian leaders with domestic leniency toward “parasites” who attempted mass murder. He acknowledged that most Muslims are not terrorists but stressed the disproportionate link between Islam and terrorism as a reality to confront.
Clearly angered by the situation, Gutfeld stated, “This is just my opinion. I don’t want this to happen. But what drives me, yes, I do, I don’t know anyway. What drives me nuts is we can decapitate Iran, kill their leader, and we can’t rub out two parasites on the street who just tried to kill a bunch of people.”
“I mean, I have the feeling that you could have just shot them dead there. You don’t know if they have another bomb on them, but what’s going on in the cops’ minds, if I shoot this guy, I’ll get in trouble. You know, they the only reason why these guys lived and nobody died is because their fallibility,” he said to build out his point.
Still not done, he stated, “You know, their bombs didn’t go off. You know, I think, I mean, 20 years ago, they would have been shot dead, and that might actually save more lives by sending a message that we will shoot you on site instead. You know, however, everybody is going like, ‘I can’t do that, because that will be brazen-[ly Islamophobic].”
Wrapping up his initial salvo, the well-loved Fox News anchor stated, “Is me just saying that brazen Islamophobia? Well, call me an Islamophobe. Islamophobic if they want to be terrorists, ISIS inspired, it means ISIS period, they should be dead.”
After some pushback from the other host, he clarified, “I mean everything I look if I’ve been around in this country since 2001, I’ve seen a lot of people bend over backwards to say that this is a religion ofpeace, and for the large part, I agree with it, but you don’t need a lot.”
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“You don’t need a lot of people. Of course, all practitioners of Islam are not terrorists, but certainly an overwhelming amount of terrorists are Muslim, so we have to live with that. That’s a reality, and if we run from that reality, we will never figure this out,” he concluded.
Featured image from embedded video