The Mirror

Breitbart Editor Defends Steve Bannon In Biting CNN Interview

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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Washington publicist Kurt Bardella took the high road Monday night after being on the receiving end of a vicious tirade from Breitbart Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak.

Both men appeared on Don Lemon‘s “CNN Tonight” along with Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin.

The topic was Steve Bannon, President-elect Donald Trump‘s chief strategist who was a former boss to both Bardella and Pollak. Is he a white nationalist? Is he an anti-Semite? Lemon flashed disgusting Breitbart headlines and wanted the two men to dish.

Bardella is the former spokesman for Breitbart. He resigned earlier this year, along with several other Breitbart employees, after the alt-right focused news site refused to support Michelle Fields after she alleged being assaulted by Trump’s aide Corey Lewandowski at a campaign event.

Bardella said Bannon could not be separated from the Breitbart website, which boasts about having an alt-right platform, which has repeated threads of white nationalism.

But Pollak defended Bannon. Wearing a yarmulke, he said Bannon is absolutely not a racist or an anti-Semite. He cited his own religious convictions as an Orthodox Jew and Bardella’s Asian ethnicity as evidence that Bannon is not what people may think based on Breitbart headlines, police reports and court docs from his divorce.

At one point things got so contentious that Pollak interrupted Bardella to tell him, basically, to shut up.

“Kurt, you would do better to listen with your ears instead of your mouth,” he said.

Lemon abruptly went to commercial.

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Asked what he thought of the segment, Bardella told The Mirror, “I think Joel did what he was supposed to do on behalf of his employer. Joel is a very bright guy and did a terrific job promoting his employer.”

But what about the whole “listen with your ears” remark?

Bardella added, “I’m guessing he thought he was being clever? Kids will be kids.”

But Bardella wasn’t totally okay with Pollak’s remarks. He said, “Wow, OK Joel, go put your big boy pants on.”

I remarked on Twitter that Pollak behaved like an ass on CNN, as well as “gross and arrogant.”

Pollak replied, “I’m a lawyer, so those are compliments.”