Former Trump hater Michael Rapaport says Oct 7, Israeli hostage situation changed his view of the president: ‘I think it’s great to admit when you were wrong’

Speaking to comedian Jamie Kennedy, Rapaport said he still has disagreements with Trump but now believes the president played an important role in efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza. "You were mad at Trump. Now you're cool with Trump?" Kennedy asked. "Yeah," Rapaport replied. "But I have problems, and he's far from not being … infuriating." Rapaport said his thinking shifted after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing hostage crisis.

"After Oct. 7, I realized the magnitude and scope of the hostage situation," he said. "I knew that the only chance would be Trump." He said that was enough for him to stop making personal attacks on the president. "Why I don't insult him now, and I could insult him and I could be derogatory towards him, is because for me, simply getting the hostages home was enough for me to not be disrespectful."

Rapaport said that through multiple trips to Israel and conversations with hostage families, his perspective changed. "The exposure and the enlightenment and the conversations I had with the hostage families, the reality that I saw, it's worth it for me to not be disrespectful to him," he said. "I could still be critical and still be frustrated... but it was important enough for me to no longer carry on like that. I wasn't as informed, plugged in, educated as I am about politics, world politics," Rapaport added. "I think it's great to admit when you were wrong, uninformed, misinformed and spoke out of turn."

The comments mark a notable shift for Rapaport, who spent years as one of Trump's most outspoken celebrity critics. During Trump's first term, he frequently mocked the president on social media, referring to him with insults including "fat pig," "piece of s---," "scumbag," and "pig." He was also a vocal supporter of Democratic candidates during multiple election cycles. He also admitted peddling fake news about the Charlottesville white supremacy scandal, when the media portrayed Trump as calling neo-Nazis "very fine people" in April 2017.

Previously speaking to NewsNation, Rapaport also said New York needed a "street fight mentality" to defeat embattled mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him a "moron" and "the greatest bull-crapper in the history of politicians." "My bark is a lot louder than my bite," Rapaport said. "There's no way to out-finesse this guy, out-smile this guy. It has to be a dogfight."

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