Conservative NewsNation Host Blows a Gasket at Mehdi Hasan for Bringing Up Jan. 6: ‘This Is Absolutely Silly!’
NewsNation host Leland Vittert blew up at Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo during a discussion about President Donald Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Washington, D.C.
On Monday, Trump announced that he is taking control of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department and is deploying 800 National Guard members to the nation’s capital, where he said crime is rampant. Trump stated that he is considering similar deployments in other large cities run by Democrats.
Hours later on Monday’s On Balance, Vittert welcomed Hasan to the show in what became an unsurprisingly heated discussion.
Hasan conceded that Trump has a legal right to send in the National Guard, but not to “interfere in the government, which he’s now trying to do, only Congress does.” He went on to note that violent crime is down in D.C.
“It’s at a 30-year low,” Hasan said. “Leland, you know who bragged that crime is down in D.C. by 26% in April of this year?”
“I’m sure you’re gonna say Trump did, but I have no idea,” Vittert replied.
“Trump did, yeah,” Hasan responded. “When they wanted to show the statistics in their favor, they did. Look, it’s down. Crime is down. Homicides are down in D.C.”
The host interrupted, which led to this exchange:
VITTERT: You’re making a mistake here because it doesn’t matter whether it’s up or down. It was at a high and out of control during the pandemic. Whether it’s up or down is relevant. The fact of the matter is, it still happens, ok? We have video from Friday night where a mob of kids took over a store and looted it. We have a video from about a week ago where they beat up, this mob of 15-year-olds were carjacking somebody, beat somebody up, almost killed them. What about their rights? I’m still trying to understand why, if you’re a law-abiding citizen, more police is a bad idea.
HASAN: But it’s not more police, right? It’s the National Guard. Fine, more police. Did you know that the Trump administration just cut $20 million in security funding to D.C.? Which is weird because apparently, crime is out of control. When you say it doesn’t matter whether it’s up or down, it does. Some of us believe in truth and facts. When you’re saying, you know, crime should be stopped, of course crime should be stopped. But this is not the solution. Are you planning or is Trump planning to send the National Guard to every city? Is he going to send it to Aurora, Colorado, which has a Republican mayor and a higher crime rate, a violent crime rate than D. C.? Is he gonna send it to every city? This is not sustainable, Leland. You’re smarter than Donald Trump.
VITTERT: I hope he sends it to St. Louis.
HASAN: You can’t solve the crime problem by sending the National Guard. We’re Americans. We don’t like the military on our streets. We’re not a tin-pot dictatorship. We should be able to sort out crime through law enforcement, through policy, which Donald Trump doesn’t seem to care about.
VITTERT: So let’s put the National Guard aside. Let’s put, let’s get the National Guard aside.
HASAN: No, I’m not. I’m not gonna put the National Guard aside because it’s quite important. It’s at the core of this. This is about Trump wanting to do a power grab. This is about Trump’s obsession with the military.
VITTERT: No, come on!
HASAN: You can pretend it’s about– you think it’s because Trump cares about crime in D.C.? Really? Because I remember Donald Trump on January the 6th, 2021 not giving a crap about crime in D.C.
VITTERT: Oh, come on! Noun, verb, January 6. Mehdi, no! Mehdi, come on! Come on! Come on! Mehdi, Mehdi, Mehdi, I know you’ve said that 150 police officers got hurt.
HASAN: Hold on, hold on. You gave [previous guest] Bill O’Reilly a lot of time. Let me give an answer. I’m here for much shorter time. Let me speak. On January 6, 2021, you may want to move on for it. We all watched police officers in D.C. being attacked by a Trump-supporting mob, 150 injured. Six hundred people convicted of–
[CROSSTALK]
VITTERT: You can’t have an argument about what’s happening on the streets of D.C. without going back to January 6.
HASAN: I can, actually, because it’s about Donald Trump, Leland.
VITTERT: No it’s not! It’s about how to have people be safe.
HASAN: I said to you Donald Trump doesn’t care about crime in D.C. You said yes, he does. And I said I’m gonna give you evidence to prove he doesn’t. If he cared about crime in D. C., why did he pardon 600 people who assaulted police officers? You can’t come and make this emotional–
VITTERT: Oh come on, Mehdi!
[CROSSTALK]
VITTERT: You cannot talk about this. This is completely different things going on.
HASAN: Why?
[CROSSTALK] Where was the National Guard on January 6, 2021?
VITTERT: Oh come on! You can’t– no, no! This is silly! This is absolutely silly, Mehdi. You can’t do this.
HASAN: Why? Why, Leland?
VITTERT: Because it has nothing to do with what’s happening or what the arguments are right now.
HASAN: It doesn’t?
[CROSSTALK]
HASAN: You said that crime matters in D.C., the victims of crime matter in D.C. What about the cops in DC? And I’m saying the man who presided–
VITTERT: The only person who died on January 6 was a Trump supporter and you can’t talk about what’s happening on the streets right now.
HASAN: Let me know when you want me to speak.
VITTERT: No, you cannot talk about this without talking about January 6 or anything else. You won’t have an argument on the merits. Mehdi, thank you as always.
Vitter then ended the interview.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump encouraged a crowd of his supporters in D.C. to march to the Capitol, where Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s election win. Some of those in attendance stormed the Capitol in a violent riot that injured scores of police officers. Despite pleas from members of Congress, Trump reportedly refused to call in the National Guard and “gleefully” watched the chaos unfold on television.
On the first day of his second term, Trump pardoned about 1,500 people who were convicted or charged with crimes related to the riot.
Watch above via NewsNation.
