Patrick Bet-David
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Patrick Bet-David is the podcast host whose confrontation with John Kiriakou in April 2026 produced one of the few on-record retractions Kiriakou has made about a named person.

The dispute began with remarks Kiriakou had made on another programme, which Bet-David played back to him at the top of the interview. In the clip Kiriakou describes him as "a hardcore Zionist" and, more particularly, as "a 1,000% backer of Reza Pahlavi to return to Iran and to assume the Peacock Throne"; he had also attributed to Bet-David the claim that support for overthrowing the Iranian government stood not at 60 per cent but at 94 per cent.

Bet-David denied having made the 94 per cent claim. Kiriakou did not contest the denial, withdrew the characterisation, and repeated the withdrawal several times over the course of the exchange, "No, I'm wrong and I apologize", closing with an unqualified version: "you've shown me wrong and I'm sorry that I perpetuated an untruth."

The warning beforehand

Asked whether anyone had cautioned him about the appearance in advance, Kiriakou said yes but declined to name the person, describing him only as a big name: "He said, oh, you're going on PBD? I said, yeah. He said, be careful. Patrick comes out swinging on Israel."

See also

- Reza Pahlavi
- John Kiriakou
- Israel-United States relations
