CNN unceremoniously booted a Donald Trump spokesperson off the air Monday after she refused to stop criticizing the network’s journalists set to moderate the first presidential debate this Thursday.
CNN This Morning anchor Kasie Hunt repeatedly warned Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt to quit taking shots at Jake Tapper and Dana Bash or else the interview would be stopped. But rather than focusing on how her boss would deal with President Joe Biden in the debate, Leavitt ignored the warnings and continued blasting Hunt’s colleagues instead.
Hunt opened the interview asking how Trump’s approach would be different in Thursday’s debate from the tactics he pursued in 2020. Leavitt started out by saying that Trump is “well prepared” for the showdown, adding that “unlike Joe Biden, he doesn’t have to hide away and have his advisers tell him what to say.”
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“President Trump knows what he wants to say, and he’s going to relay his vision to the American people to make this country strong, safe, secure, and wealthy again,” Leavitt said. “He’s been doing that across this great nation to all corners of this country.”
Things quickly went off the rails from there.
“That’s why he was in Detroit, Michigan last week,” Leavitt continued. “He was in Philadelphia for a big rally on Saturday night. And that’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years and their biased coverage of him.”
When Leavitt finished speaking, Hunt immediately defended her coworkers. “So I’ll just say, my colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, have acquitted themselves as professionals as they have covered campaigns and interviewed candidates from all sides of the aisle.” She added that “if you talk to analysts of debates previous,” you’ll find that “if you’re attacking the moderators, you’re usually losing.”
Hunt then tried to steer Leavitt back to focusing on the debate itself, playing some comments from Trump and asking what they’re expecting from Biden.
“Well, first of all, it would take someone five minutes to Google ‘Jake Tapper Donald Trump’ to see Jake Tapper has consistently…” Leavitt began saying, prompting an intervention from Hunt.
“Ma’am, we’re going to stop this interview if you’re going to keep attacking my colleagues,” Hunt said. The pair then started talking over each other, with Hunt reiterating that she’d pull the plug if Leavitt kept it up.
“I am stating facts that your colleagues have stated in the past…,” Leavitt said, which was apparently the final straw.
“Okay, I’m sorry guys, we’re going to come back out to the panel,” Hunt said, waving her hand. As Leavitt was taken off the air, the anchor added, “Karoline, thank you very much for your time, you are welcome to come back at any point. She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump.”
“You come on my show, you respect my colleagues,” Hunt wrote in an X post after the calamitous interview. “Period. I don’t care what side of the aisle you stand on, as my track record clearly shows.”
Last week, several activists protested outside Tapper’s home to criticize the way he’s covered Israel’s war in Gaza. One of the individuals taking part in the demonstration—which accused Tapper of spreading Israeli propaganda—was a volunteer with Codepink, according to USA Today, though the organization didn’t formally organize the stunt.
