MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson finally grew tired of Trump campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley’s constant deflections and misinformation during a Thursday morning interview, eventually cutting it short while noting that he wasn’t answering any of her questions.
Hours before the hotly anticipated final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Jackson welcomed Gidley to ostensibly talk about the president’s debate preparations and strategy. Gidley, however, attempted to use the segment to steamroll Jackson, something she wasn’t having from the start.
Almost immediately, Gidley refused to say whether or not the president had any prep sessions for Thursday night’s debate or who was involved with the president’s preparation, something Jackson noted was relevant considering the coronavirus outbreak that was connected to the first debate’s prep sessions.
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“I’m not going to tell you who is in the room, if the president wants to do so, he obviously can,” Gidley huffed, setting the tone for the rest of the interview.
The Trump flack went on to gripe about the “completely biased” debate commission, prompting Jackson to note that the organization has placed mute buttons on the microphones to enforce the rules that Trump openly flouted in the first debate.
Jackson attempted to keep the interview on-track about the debate rules while Gidley continued to swing the conversation to other issues, such as Hunter Biden’s emails and how Trump “defeated ISIS,” causing the MSNBC host to point out that the Trump spokesman was not answering her debate-related questions.
“Please, I’ve asked four times,” she said.
“Yes, and I was getting there, Hallie,” Gidley replied.
“We don’t have 45 minutes. You know how these things work,” the MSNBC anchor shot back.
After Gidley finally said the president is a “counter-puncher” and won’t let Biden “lie about him” at the debate, therefore admitting that the president doesn’t intend to abide by the debate rules on interruptions, Jackson moved on to the FBI and director of national intelligence hastily announcing that Iran was behind a voter-intimidation scheme.
Gidley claimed the Trump campaign didn’t get any heads up on the announcement, prompting Jackson to move on to FBI Director Christopher Wray confirming that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, refuting the president’s repeated claims.
“Number one, the president himself has been somebody that has spread misinformation and disinformation about voting security,” she said. “Given this new information from director Wray and the comments he’s reiterating, will the president back off on the claims? Is that a conversation you’re having with him?”
The campaign spokesperson, however, insisted he’s seen numerous reports of voting ballots in trash cans, causing Jackson to point out that that is not proof of widespread voter fraud. Gidley, meanwhile, asserted that fraud was “rampant.”
“Specifically within the last 12 hours [Wray] said on national television that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Somebody who is a part of the Trump administration’s own intelligence expert field, Hogan, that’s coming from Wray,” Jackson pressed before referencing the president reportedly looking to fire Wray. “Does the president have confidence in his FBI director? Yes or no.”
As Gidley pivoted again, saying the “American people want a free and fair election,” Jackson fired back, “That’s not what I asked!”
The Trump flack then began to blame Biden and former President Barack Obama for not stopping interference in the last election, finally leading Jackson to cut the interview short.
“Nope, OK, I guess you’re not going to answer that question,” she flatly noted before ending the segment.
Jackson is just the latest mainstream news anchor who has cut off an interview with a Trumpworld figure when the conversation has spun off the rails or become pointless. CNN’s Jake Tapper has ended interviews with Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro in recent weeks while MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin booted Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes for peddling a conspiracy about Biden.
