CNN’s Brianna Keilar Eviscerates Trump Spox In Epic 15-Min Clash: ‘I Can’t Hold On A Second When You’re Not Being Honest’

KJ EdelmanJul 21st, 2020, 3:34 pm
 

CNN’s Brianna Keilar interviewed Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, resulting in a feisty and loud battle over masks, hydroxychloroquine, and President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 response.

On Monday, Trump touted masks on Twitter for the first time, but went to a fundraiser in his Washington DC hotel without a facial covering later that night. Keilar pressed Murtaugh on whether everyone at the event was tested for the coronavirus.

“Why are there mixed messages here?” she asked.

“I don’t think it’s ever been a mixed message,” Murtaugh responded. “The president has always encouraged people to follow the guidelines, encouraged people to wear masks if they can’t social distance. Remember, the president is the most tested man in America.”

As Murtaugh went on and Keilar pressed him on testing, he shifted his focus onto CNN. He attacked the network for telling people not to wear masks in March, before public health officials encouraged mask usage following shortages in the medical field.

“You want to talk about a shift,” Murtaugh shot back. “That is a shift.”

“You are aware that administration officials, at the beginning, were advising people not to wear masks because they wanted them reserved for front line workers,” Keilar responded.

“That’s not what your doctor said, Brianna,” Murtaugh said, referencing a segment in March. “It’s a moving target with you.”

After the network aired a montage of clips of Trump talking about not wearing masks from the last couple of months, Murtaugh blamed former President Barack Obama for shortages in PPE.

“Obama left 19,000 ventilators in the plan,” Keilar interrupted. “You know, Tim, Obama left 19,000 ventilators in the plan so you’re lying. You’re talking like it’s 2017. It’s 2020, sir. It is 2020. It has been almost four years.”

The conversation then shifted to the United States’ Covid-19 testing. Murtaugh touted the number of tests the country is doing daily while Keilar noted how long it takes to get results back until the two started shouting over eachother.

“This is a testing failure, Tim,” Keilar concluded.

“Hold on a second,” Murtaugh said. “No, it is not. It’s a tremendous success story. We’re leading the world in testing.”

“I can’t hold on a second when you’re not being honest,” Keilar interjected.

Their heated argument finished with yelling over studies around hydroxychloroquine, an unproven anti-malaria drug that has been used to treat Covid-19. While some studies have found positive effects to the drug, most haven’t. The FDA also ended emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus on June 15.

At one point, Keilar asked, “Are you talking about the study that also includes corticosteroids which are helpful in coronavirus. It is not hydroxychloroquine that helps patients. You’re not a doctor clearly.”

“Again, you’re cherry-picking,” Murtaugh responded.

“I’m not cherry picking,” Keilar said back. “I talk to scientists and doctors and you clearly don’t.”

After the interview, the two continued the fight on Twitter. Keilar tweeted, “Paging @TimMurtaugh. You literally just made stuff up about what Dr. [Anthony] Fauci said.” Murtaugh promptly responded with an article of his own from March to “refresh” her memory.

Watch above, via CNN.

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