Campaign legal advisor Jenna Ellis got into a heated discussion Sunday with CNN host Brian Stelter over President Donald Trump’s demand for a retraction from the network.
Ellis joined Stelter on “Reliable Sources” to talk about Trump’s comments about media and the letter his campaign sent to CNN demanding a retraction over a recent poll. (RELATED: Here Are The Possible Reasons Mike Flynn’s Judge Hired His Own Attorney)
WATCH:
Citing the fact that not all of the respondents to the poll were registered voters, Ellis referred to it as “junk.” CNN had defended the poll, arguing that all of those who responded to the question about a head-to-head matchup between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were registered voters.
Stelter then brought up the president’s tweet suggesting that Americans change their cable providers if they had service from Comcast — which he referred to as “concast” — asking whether Ellis thought it was appropriate for him to use his platform in that way.
Concast is known for its terrible service. On top of that they provide FAKE NEWS on MSDNC & @NBCNews. Drop them and go to a good provider! https://t.co/Ew4cB2UPv4
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020
Ellis said that Trump was simply voicing his opinion, adding, “He is also a citizen. He’s the first one to actually use — to use his platform as an American citizen to be able to call out the fake news media.”
“You understand that, like, some day you’re going to regret this, right? Some day you’re going to regret this, when your kids and your grandkids look back at this time, and you use slurs and smear us as fake news to hurt news outlets,” Stelter claimed then, adding, “I think in 10 or 20 years if we sit down and talk about this, you’ll recognize how damaging it was to use terms like fake news, to attack journalists who are trying to do their jobs.”
“In 15 or 20 years — you’re not trying to do your job,” Ellis shot back. “You’re not a journalist. You’re an activist. That’s the problem. You have an agenda, anti-Trump. The American people see through this. This president is finally hold the fake news media accountable because you’re activists. You’re not reporting facts and truth.”
Ali Pardo, deputy communications director for the Trump campaign, released a statement in response to the heated segment, saying in part, “This kind of on-air meltdown and lashing out is completely unprofessional, yet it’s what we’ve come to expect from the leftists who hate President Trump. It would be great if so-called journalists would refrain from personal attacks and putting words in the mouths of the children and grandchildren of strong, smart, and independent women.”
“We condemn Brian Stelter’s behavior and call on CNN and Stelter to apologize,” the statement added.