CNN Reporter Dumbfounded by Trump Remark: ‘We’re Trying To Sort Through What That Sentence Actually Even Meant’

CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes conceded she was completely puzzled by a wild claim from President Donald Trump.

Trump delivered a highly politicized speech in front of U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, where he goaded soldiers into booing “the fake news” in attendance. Elsewhere in his remarks, Trump addressed the ongoing protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles and called the city “a trash heap.” He also suggested that California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have been paying protestors for some reason.

“They’re incompetent and they paid troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists,” Trump said. “They’re engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders.”

Hours later on CNN’s OutFront, host Erin Burnett expressed bafflement at the baseless allegation.

“What the president just said there is pretty incredible, she said to Holmes. “He’s saying that the mayor and the governor of this state are paying troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists to conduct these acts, which is a pretty incredible statement to make.”

Holmes replied that she, too, was confused by the charge:

Yeah. And, Erin, we did ask for clarity on those comments because, like much of what Donald Trump says, it wasn’t entirely clear if he was blaming them or also, as you said, saying that they were paying him. We’re trying to sort through what that sentence actually even meant.

Demonstrations in Los Angeles have been ongoing since Friday, when ICE agents raided several locations in the hopes of arresting undocumented immigrants. In response, Trump has federalized 4,000 National Guard soldiers in the state and has deployed 700 Marines. It is the first time a president has called up a state’s National Guard over the objections of its governor since 1965.

Watch above via CNN.