CNN’s Abby Phillip Torpedoes Ex-Trump Spox on Claim Media ‘Took the Bait’: ‘It’s Only Bait if It’s Not True’

CNN anchor Abby Phillip torpedoed ex-Trump campaign spokesperson Caroline Sunshine for claiming that the media “took the bait” from President Donald Trump on his new DNI pick.

The president was asked about Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte — Trump’s pick for acting DNI, replacing the ousted Tulsi Gabbard — during an Oval Office event, and said Pulte “may find out some things about the rigged elections, et cetera, et cetera.”

On Thursday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, anchor Abby Phillip hosted a panel that included Keith Boykin, Sunshine, Ashley Allison, Arthur Aidala, and Terry Moran.

When Sunshine accused the media of “taking the bait” with that statement, Phillip stepped in to point out “it’s only bait if it’s not true”:

PHILLIP: Tonight, Donald Trump says that his controversial pick for the director of National Intelligence is only temporary, but that any concerns about his pick’s qualifications are overblown. Earlier this week, Trump announced that Bill Pulte, who has never served in an intelligence, defense, or even national security role, would be taking up the mantle for the outgoing DNI, Tulsi Gabbard.

Appearing before to justify the appoint-point the appointment, while tempering expectations, Trump suggested that Pulte doesn’t really want the job in the long-term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent. But he’s a very smart guy, and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, et cetera, et cetera. I think he’d like to do it. I’d like to — I think he wants to do it very much, got a lot of energy.

REPORTER: But in your view, Mr. President, the necessary national security experience to take on that position?

TRUMP: Well, I do, and I think he does actually because he’s smart. Because a lot of national security — look, I wasn’t greatly experienced in national security, and I think I’ve done a really great job with it.

Bill is a guy that will be able to figure it out very quickly. Again, it’s short-term, but he may be very effective for a short period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Pulte currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and in that role, he’s pressed for investigations into Trump’s political enemies. That has obviously pleased the president, but now it looks like apparently he’s turning the DNI office into an election investigation office. Why?

SUNSHINE: No offense, but you guys take the bait every time. I mean, I’ve worked for Donald Trump. Half the stuff he says is because he knows you’re going to run it on T.V. and focus on that instead of what he doesn’t want you to focus on, which is the fact that right now we have a war with Iran that isn’t going well. But if he says he’s going to go investigate the rigged elections, he knows you’re going to run the clip, and you just did it.

So, let’s talk about what’s really important, which is that —

PHILLIP: Let me understand. Are you suggesting that he doesn’t believe what he just said?

SUNSHINE: Oh, Donald Trump believes everything that he says, but I’m saying you took the bait.

PHILLIP: Well, it’s only bait if it’s not true. That’s the first question. Does he believe what he said? Do you think he does?

SUNSHINE: I have no reason to believe Donald Trump doesn’t believe that.

PHILLIP: My next question is, even if he doesn’t believe that Bill Pulte is going to do what he said he wants him to do, do you think that there’s really a justification for naming him as director of National Intelligence?

SUNSHINE: Absolutely. I think it’s a fantastic choice.

BOYKIN: Why?

SUNSHINE: And you want to know how I know it’s a fantastic choice? Because Mike Pence is hyperventilating about it.

Let’s talk about the not an expert thing. First of all, we don’t need any more experts. Under the Biden administration, you had Alejandro Mayorkas, who ran the border, what an epic failure that was, and he came out and said it himself. He was an expert in Homeland Security. How’d that go? An admission of his own failure.

Bill Pulte —

PHILLIP: Well, he had actually had experience. I mean, look, you can say he did —

SUNSHINE: He had experience, but he failed. He said it himself.

PHILLIP: You can say that he did a bad job, but he actually worked at the high levels of the Department of Homeland Security prior to having that job. So, what are Bill Pulte’s qualifications for being director of National Intelligence?

SUNSHINE: The DNI role, this is where I think the president’s instincts are kicking in. I like that he’s making a change. He knows that this war isn’t going very well, and he’s making changes, and one of them has been that the DNI role has been sidelined under the current trajectory of the war, right?

PHILLIP: By Trump?

SUNSHINE: Despite the fact that the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies that serve under the DNI have all concluded that Iran never had a nuclear weapon and never wanted to make one. I hope that by — I don’t know if the president ever fully trusted Gabbard in the way that I think he trusts Pulte. Pulte has known the president outside of his time in the presidency.

BOYKIN: I have no idea what you’re saying.

SUNSHINE: And I think him elevating the DNI to this position —

BOYKIN: I don’t understand what you’re saying.

SUNSHINE: — is a good choice for the trajectory of the world.

BOYKIN: I don’t understand what you’re saying. It doesn’t — it seems to be illogical, doesn’t make any sense to me.

But I’ll tell you this. The one reason —

SUNSHINE: You need me to slow it down?

BOYKIN: No. I need you to — I need you to read the law. The one reason why he’s not qualified is because the law says he’s not qualified. The law says the DNI must be a person with military experience, intelligence experience, or some sort of national security experience. He has none of that.

SUNSHINE: Every president serves at the pleasure of the president.

PHILLIP: The law uses the word extensive. I can’t think of a lot of jobs in the government that have an actual qualification that’s listed in the statute, and it qualifies it by saying it, they must have extensive experience.

But I don’t want us to lose sight of the election piece of this because that’s incredibly important.

ALLISON: Yes.

PHILLIP: It’s not as if Trump — this isn’t bait. Here’s how we know it’s not bait. Tulsi Gabbard, when she was the DNI, she testified to the House and the Senate, my presence in Florida at this raid of the Atlanta Fulton County election office, my presence was requested by the president and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence. So, he sends her down there on a raid to grab ballots in Georgia.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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