Reacting to reports that President Donald Trump promised China he would stay quiet on the Hong Kong protests while mentioning his potential political rivals, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Friday refused to answer whether he brought up former Vice President Joe Biden to China—proudly declaring he’s never been “disappointed in my president.”
Appearing on CNN Newsroom on Friday morning, the White House official was pressed early on by host Jim Sciutto about the president’s reported assurance to the Chinese leader that he’d stay mum on the protests as trade talks between the two countries continued. Navarro, meanwhile, implied the story was false because CNN was relying on “anonymous sources.”
“You assert that—that’s not a fact in evidence,” Navarro exclaimed. “I read through that whole story. It was one assertion of fact after another, without sourcing.”
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After Sciutto defended the reporting, noting there were multiple sources and public information corroborating the story, he continued to question Navarro about Trump not taking sides in the Hong Kong protests, noting that the president’s trade adviser himself has praised the protesters.
“He said very clearly he wanted a peaceful resolution to that,” Navarro declared, prompting Sciutto to once again state that Trump merely said he wanted “both sides to refrain from violence.”
“So what’s the point here, Jim?” Navarro snapped back.
“I’m asking you, are you disappointed the president hasn’t made a public statement of support,” the CNN host wondered aloud.
“I’m never disappointed in my president,” the Trump aide declared. “I’m never disappointed in my president!”
Towards the end of the segment, after Navarro repeatedly compared him to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (a favorite target of Trumpworld’s lately), Sciutto circled back to the president calling on the Chinese government to investigate the Biden family.
“Have you ever raised investigating Joe Biden or his son during contacts with Chinese officials?” Sciutto asked.
“Here’s the thing,” the White House official responded. “I will never talk about what happens inside the White House. OK? Not confirm or deny. Because that’s the slippery slope.”
Navarro would go on and deflect some more as Sciutto attempted to get a yes-no answer from him, complaining about leaks from the White House and anonymous sources in reports on the administration.
