‘Hold On!’ CNN’s Abby Phillip Drops Fact-Check on Pro-Trump Host in Brawl Over New Intel Chief

CNN anchor Abby Phillip dropped an instant fact-check on pro-Trump radio host Jason Rantz during a brawl over President Donald Trump’s pick for acting Director of National Intelligence.

Trump announced on Tuesday morning that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte would be his pick for acting DNI, replacing the ousted Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte is the architect of several failed revenge cases against Trump opponents and has no experience in intelligence.

On Tuesday night’s election edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip hosted a panel that included Rantz, Van Jones, Xochitl Hinojosa, Brad Todd, and Ana Navarro to talk election results and news of the day.

During a discussion of Pulte’s selection, Rantz accused Democrats of concocting the idea that Trump would “cancel the election,” at which point Phillip stepped in to remind him that Trump has repeatedly made that suggestion himself:

HINOJOSA: Well, and it’s also, yes, our national security, but the reason why Trump wants him in this role is because we have an election coming up, and he knows that Democrats are likely going to sweep the House and potentially the Senate. And he needs a DNI director there that will potentially cast doubt on the election, whether it is foreign interference. He can use any tool at his disposal to potentially not only cast doubt but to question the results of the election.

And he doesn’t need to have him there for a year. All he needs to do is have him in that position from now until the end of the year or until the new Congress is certified to potentially stop certification, and this is what people are worried about.

And when I say people, this is what outside groups and others are worried about when it comes to this.

TODD: Are you already pre-selling post-election chaos?

HINOJOSA: I am telling you what the president has his eye on. The president doesn’t have his eye on the national-

(CROSSTALK)

TODD: How do know (inaudible) has his eye on?

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: Because we already had Tulsi Gabbard go in and look at boxes in Georgia —

TODD: From six years ago.

HINOJOSA: — when that is not the role of the DNI director. We know that the President likes to cast doubt on elections as he has done before.

TODD: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let’s don’t project that forward.

Let’s presume — let’s presume everybody’s going to turn around this election on the —

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: We know the President will use every tool in his disposal to put doubt in the election. That should concern everybody. And not only that. But not only that.

(CROSSTALK)

RANTZ: There were Democrats who said the entire time that he was going to cancel the election, so —

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: Hold on, I am not done.

PHILLIP: Hold on. Jason, Trump raised the issue of cancelling the election. Don’t put that on Democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

RANTZ: Democrats said he wasn’t going to allow the election —

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Hold on, Jason.

RANTZ: They said that from the beginning.

PHILLIP: Hold on, Jason. Hold on, Jason. Just to be clear, the only person who has talked about cancelling elections is Donald Trump.

RANTZ: That’s not true.

PHILLIP: He has put that in writing. And also, and on top of that, I mean, what Xochi is talking about is not just supposition. Trump has repeatedly already, before this moment cast out on the upcoming election. So, it’s not just the past, it’s also the present, it’s the future. It would be, I think, disingenuous to suggest that he doesn’t have that top of mind.

TODD: I thought we’d focus on having this election in an honest and fair way.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: I agree with you. I agree with you. But the President has this on his mind. There’s no question about that.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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