After a slow start, the legacy media eventually came around to covering the Boulder firebombing for what it was: an antisemitic terror attack in furtherance of Hamas’s goals. However, CBS News found a novel way to slink towards the gutter: by lamenting the hypothetical fate of the fire bomber under Trump immigration policies.
Watch as Nancy Cordes, John Dickerson, and Maurice DuBois close out the top story on the CBS Evening News:
CBS News is mad that the Trump administration discussed the illegal immigrant status of the Boulder jihadi firebomber who was in the country illegally pic.twitter.com/bFC856XN83
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 3, 2025
CBS EVENING NEWS
6/2/25
6:33 PM
MAURICE DuBOIS: Now to Nancy Cordes at The White House. So Nancy, what is the president saying about this tonight?
NANCY CORDES: Maurice, the president and The White House, more generally, they are using this case to hammer the Biden administration over its immigration policies which they are arguing enabled the suspect to stay in the country. In a post this morning President Trump said “acts of terrorism like this one will not be tolerated in the United States”, and he said “this is why we must deport illegal, anti-american radicals from our homeland.” Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller added, “no more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back.” Soliman entered the U.S. three years ago on a tourist visa but he has applied for asylum about a month later and some asylum cases can take six years to process. So he was allowed to stay here and wait.
JOHN DICKERSON: Nancy, what would've happened to Soliman under Trump's policies?
CORDES: Well, the Trump administration, John, has raised the asylum threshold so he could still enter the country on a tourist visa today, but he might not be allowed to even begin the asylum process. The Biden administration also granted him a temporary two-year work permit so he was able to earn a living in the U.S. while he waited for his asylum claim to be processed. And it's unlikely under Trump's immigration policies that he would’ve been granted that work permit.
DICKERSON: Nancy Cordes at The White House for us. Thank you, Nancy.
The report opened cleanly enough, and in a very matter-of-fact manner before tossing to correspondent Jason Allen. Allen took care to mention all of the elements of the story. The fire bomber was here illegally, the motive was antisemitic terror, he shouted “Free Palestine” as he conducted the attack, and he only used Molotov cocktails because he couldn’t buy a gun on account of being in the country illegally.
This isn’t to say that the first part of the report was flawless. It did not, for example, link the Boulder fire bombing to prior recent antisemitic terror attacks, such as the fire bombing of the Pennsylvania Executive Mansion during Passover, or the recent deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. In that sense, Boulder was reported as being in a vacuum when clearly it is not.
Where CBS went full CBS was with the Cordes exchange at the end. The open lamentation over Trump’s policy contrasts on immigration was a bit too much- even for CBS. Additionally, the speculation is misplaced. If found guilty of the charges, Mr. Soliman will in all likelihood die in prison.
That elite Acela Media journalists would engage in such commiseration over the fate of an accused terrorist is staggering. Furthermore, such a display shows the extent of the institutional Trump derangement that permeates the once and former Tiffany Network.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on CBS Evening News on Monday, June 2nd, 2025:
JOHN DICKERSON: The police in Boulder, Colorado, now say 12 people were injured in a Sunday attack on a group demonstrating support for Israelis held hostage by Hamas.
MAURICE DuBOIS: As bad as it was it could've been much worse. They say they recovered 16 unused Molotov cocktails.
DICKERSON: The suspect will be charged by both the state and federal governments with hate crimes and attempted murder. The state charges alone carry more than six centuries in prison.
DuBOIS: Prosecutors say the suspect has confessed, has no regrets and would do it again.
DICKERSON: Nancy Cordes has the president's reaction but we begin with Jason Allen in Boulder. Jason.
JASON ALLEN: John, people have been visiting the site of the attack here throughout the day. Some of them bringing flowers, and police are very visible in the area today. Investigators revealed the suspect had tried to buy a gun but then realized he couldn't because he's not a citizen. That's when he turned to the plan to use Molotov cocktails instead.
Mohammed Soliman appeared before a Colorado judge Monday, facing charges of attempted murder. According to an affidavit filed by the Department of Justice, the 45-year-old Soleiman planned the attack for a year. The FBI says witnesses allegedly heard Soleiman yell "Free Palestine", and he used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack demonstrators. 12 people were injured. Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell:
J. BISHOP GREWELL: Such violence is particularly pernicious when someone is targeted because of their race, religion, or their national origin.
ALLEN: The affidavit said Soliman allegedly stated he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.
TARA WINER: I talk to someone who can answer the phone.
ALLEN: Boulder City Council member Tara Weiner knows four of the victims.
How are they doing?
WINER: You know, they’ll be okay, physically, these particular ones. But you can imagine how they are doing. But the Jewish community is beyond upset, outraged about what has happened.
ALLEN: An Egyptian national, Soliman overstayed a tourist visa according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS says he requested asylum in 2022, and that his nonimmigrant visa expired in February of 2023. Soleiman had a job with a healthcare company in 2023, and at the time of the attack he was a driver for Uber, according to a spokesperson. Tara Winer, who is Jewish, has been with her friends during previous Sunday demonstrations, and said she will be there again.
Do you think you put yourself at risk by doing that?
WINER: We'll have security, but I personally can't walk around being afraid, it's just not who I am.
ALLEN: You can't let it stop you.
WINER: I can’t.
ALLEN: Authorities said more charges could be filed in this case, and one other thing to note: law enforcement, when they searched his vehicle, they said that they found paperwork with the words "Israel”, “Palestine”, and “USAID” written down.
DICKERSON: Jason Allen in Boulder. Thank you, Jason.
DuBOIS: Now to Nancy Cordes at The White House. So Nancy, what is the president saying about this tonight?
NANCY CORDES: Maurice the president and The White House, more generally, they are using this case to hammer the Biden administration over its immigration policies which they are arguing enabled the suspect to stay in the country. In a post this morning President Trump said “acts of terrorism like this one will not be tolerated in the United States”, and he said “this is why we must deport illegal, anti-american radicals from our homeland.” Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller added, “no more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back.” Soliman entered the U.S. three years ago on a tourist vis,a but he has applied for asylum about a month later and some asylum cases can take six years to process. So he was allowed to stay here and wait.
DICKERSON: Nancy, what would've happened to Soliman under Trump's policies?
CORDES: Well, the Trump administration, John, has raised the asylum threshold so he could still enter the country on a tourist visa today, but he might not be allowed to even begin the asylum process. The Biden administration also granted him a temporary two-year work permit so he was able to earn a living in the U.S. while he waited for his asylum claim to be processed. And it's unlikely under Trump's immigration policies that he would’ve been granted that work permit.
DICKERSON: Nancy Cordes at The White House for us. Thank you, Nancy.
