CNN’s Abby Phillip Pulls Instant Video Receipt on Trump Ally in Brawl Over ‘Violent Rhetoric’

CNN anchor Abby Phillip called BS on a pro-Trump panelist with an instant video receipt during a debate over “violent rhetoric” in the wake of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) shooting.

Chaos erupted Saturday night at the so-called “Hinckley Hilton” when a loud noise that turned out to be gunfire unleashed pandemonium.

Suspect Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody after rushing through the security perimeter and opening fire. Initial reporting that Allen was shot or killed turned out not to be true. President Donald Trump was not hurt in the incident.

In the aftermath of the shooting, predictable debates have erupted over “violent rhetoric” and which side is to blame for it.

On Monday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip hosted a panel that included Charles Blow, Ben Ferguson, Adrienne Elrod, Marc Short, Juliette Kayyem, and Sarah Ellison.

In one exchange, Blow accused Trump of violent policies as well as rhetoric, and Ferguson countered by reading a quote from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) that he considered a relevant example.

But Phillip shut him down instantly by playing Jeffries’s remark in context:

CHARLES BLOW: But it’s not just rhetoric. It’s actually policies. We have a president who likes conspicuous cruelty. We saw it in how ICE was operating on the streets. It is why he wants to bring back Alcatraz. It is why he wants to bring back firing squads. It is why he was delighted with his visit to Alligator Alcatraz. And, in fact, when the reporter asked him before he traveled to Florida what that was the point to make sure that if they tried to get away, that they would be eaten by alligators. He says, we’re going to teach them how to run and they better not run in a straight line. They better run like this.

That conspicuous cruelty and wanting to see that, and in his first administration saying that he wanted police officers to rough up people that they arrested before they even got into jail, got a trial, that lust for that is a whole other thing. We can’t keep saying like, oh, it’s just because people are talking. There are things that are happening that we are seeing and that is a real thing and that is contributing to a negative environment in this country.

ABBY PHILLIP: Is it a both — and, I mean, I think they’re making the point, there is a lot of violence right now, but it is also true that President Trump is the most powerful megaphone, not to mention person in this country, and he himself has a very long history of violent rhetoric.

BEN FERGUSON: Maximum warfare everywhere all the time. That was said before and after the last person that just tried to kill Donald Trump. We’re going to have more people try to kill Donald Trump if we don’t stop —

PHILLIP: Let’s just — let me just — well, yes. Well, you’re — OK.

FERGUSON: I’m quoting Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrat card.

PHILLIP: Well, let me actually play Hakeem Jeffries in context. Just listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Hakeem Jeffries just this April, this month, said, we are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time.

JEFFRIES: Donald Trump and Republicans launched this gerrymandering war. We are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time. And we’re going to keep the pressure on Republicans in every single state in the union to ensure at the end of the day that there is a fair national map.

LEAVITT: Governor Josh Shapiro said heads need to roll within the administration.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): People have been disappeared in the community. American civil rights have been violated. None of this is acceptable. Heads do need to roll certainly within the administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So, the reason I stopped you is because there is a difference between using an idiom and a figure of speech and calling for violence. Any person who understands the English language knows that. And I think that is true of that quote that you just wrote read of Hakeem Jeffries and the one that you heard from Josh Shapiro.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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