Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a tense interview with CNN host Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.
Bloomberg appeared on the cable news network to discuss the FAA's decision to temporarily ban U.S. airline travel to Israel amid violent conflict in the region. He insists air travel to the country is safe and is currently in Israel to protest the decision. While on air, among other things, Bloomberg snapped at Blitzer for what he described as a "ridiculous" question and said he was "personally" offended by the anchor.
The interview began pleasant enough.
"If you don't feel safe here, I don't know where you'd feel safe. And I think the State Department is just overreacting in typical bureaucratic fashion," Bloomberg said.
Things took a turn when Blitzer asked whether there might be "political reasons" for the FAA decision. The question outraged Bloomberg.
"Why would you think that, Wolf? Don't be ridiculous. Why would you think that? That's an outrage for you to accuse one of our agencies [of being political]. By asking the question you're implying that our government does things for political reasons. And maybe every once and a while they do but it's your job to prove it. Just the allegation against our government I personally take as an offense," Bloomberg said.
Blitzer, who attempted to interject several times as Bloomberg spoke, said he was simply trying to find out the former mayor's views on the matter.
"Just the tone of the question of trying to create dissension is insulting to America," Bloomberg maintained.
View the interview below.