‘What is Your Beef?’: CNN’s Brianna Keilar Grills Top Republican on Liz Cheney Feud in Heated Slugfest
CNN’s Brianna Keilar had a 15 minute slugfest with Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) over the Trump Administration’s coronavirus response and especially the fight between Liz Cheney (R-WY) and her conservative colleagues.
On Tuesday, Roy was among the House Republicans who went after the House Republican Conference chairwoman for defending Dr. Anthony Fauci, breaking with President Donald Trump at times, and supposedly undermining the GOP agenda. When Roy gave an interview to Keilar on Wednesday, the Cheney blow-up and the congressman’s complaints about the nation’s top infectious disease expert dominated the conversation.
After insisting that the Republican conference remains united, Roy moved to attack Keilar’s question, saying “this is classic swamp journalism.”
“I didn’t attack Dr. Fauci,” Roy claimed. He went on to argue the country needs to hear from more scientific voices, listing several he promoted by saying they’ve called national lockdowns a “failed strategy.”
“It’s not swamp journalism that a member of your conference said that you took issue, I mean, this is a basic thing,” Keilar responded. “She has supported Dr. Fauci. You took issue with her specific support of Dr. Fauci. What is your beef with her support of Dr. Fauci?”
Roy digressed from the question in order to repeat that the country needs to hear from more medical experts, so Keilar called him out .
“You’re side-stepping the question,” she said.
As Roy went into an anecdote about how he survived cancer by seeking multiple medical opinions, Keilar pressed on, asking which of Fauci’s positions does he “want a second opinion on.”
Keilar provided fact-checks and vital context for Roy’s claims about Fauci’s face mask remarks, plus Trump’s changed attitude on mask-wearing. The anchor and congressman then collided on the need to revitalize the economy versus the need to save lives in Roy’s district and beyond.
Eventually, Keilar returned to the Cheney blow-up by asking Roy if he agrees with Matt Gaetz (R-FL) who demanded that she be removed from GOP leadership.
Roy dismissed that as “palace intrigue” before saying “I’m not calling for Liz Cheney to step down. Liz is a friend. We need to have a robust debate, unlike my colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle.”
As the two continued to have at it, Roy claimed that the viral curve in Texas is flattening, which Keilar tried to call out as false. Roy demanded that Keilar “show the curve” on air, and while she couldn’t do it during the interview, she eventually followed through with data showing the state with over 8,000 Covid-19 cases still.
“It is not flat, not by a lone star mile,” Keilar said. “Check this out…here’s the curve, it’s a disaster.”
Watch above, via CNN.
