‘I’m Sorry — I’ll Finish!’ Charles Blow Shuts Down Pro-Trump CNN Guest Trying to Cut in During WHCD Fracas

CNN regular Charles Blow shut down a pro-Trump panelist who tried to interrupt him 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, anchor Abby Phillip hosted a panel that included Blow, Ben Ferguson, Adrienne Elrod, Marc Short, Juliette Kayyem, and Sarah Ellison.

When Ferguson blamed Democrats for “lighting the fuse” by calling Trump dangerous, Blow responded that “calling something what it is not an incitement to violence.”

Blow then cut Ferguson off when he tried to cut in on his rejoinder:

FERGUSON: There will be more attacks and there’ll be more conservatives that will be killed if the Democratic Party doesn’t wake up and realize that words had meaning and they light the fuse. It has happened to too many people, including Charlie Kirk, a friend of mine. You can’t sit here and have Joe Biden say that Donald Trump, quote, “is a clear and present danger to democracy” and then have surrogates out there —

BLOW: Is that not true?

ELROD: I mean, he is.

FERGUSON: The American people don’t believe that. They elected him again.

BLOW: Do you believe it?

FERGUSON: I don’t believe he’s a clear and present danger to this country. I think he’s a savior of this country.

BLOW: I absolutely do. I absolutely do.

FERGUSON: I believe that you do.

BLOW: And I believe that a lot of Americans do too. And calling something what it is not an incitement to violence.

FERGUSON: It is for the people trying to kill Donald Trump.

BLOW: No.

FERGUSON: In the manifesto it said that is why they were trying to kill Donald Trump. Read their words and their manifests. It will tell you–.

BLOW: And, listen, it is a very easy thing for me to say that a violent person behaving violently is wrong. It is a very easy thing —

FERGUSON: But I’ll give him the— I’ll light the fuse —

BLOW: I’m sorry — I’ll finish! And it is a very easy thing for me to say that political violence does not belong in our politics and it is a sign–

FERGUSON: But I’ll light the fuse—

BLOW: — of an unhealthy democracy. But I will never take lessons in civility from this president and this White House when they have engaged —

FERGUSON: (OVERTALKING) So therefore, light the fuse, it is justifiable to attack and try to kill the president.

BLOW: And conservatives did not want to connect Donald Trump’s rhetoric to Charlottesville. They did not —

(CROSSTALKS)

BLOW: No, they did not.

(CROSSTALKS)

BLOW: They did not want to connect him to January 6th and his rhetoric and all the things that he said around January 6th to that violence. They did not get upset with him when he pardoned all of the January 6th rioters. They did not — I’m sorry —

(CROSSTALKS)

BLOW: What I’m trying to understand is that hypocrisy does not feel good to Americans and they rejected it.

PHILLIP: Let me just say, Ben, nobody here has justified the attempts against President Trump’s life or anybody’s life. Charles didn’t. Nobody at this table did that.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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