CNN host Kasie Hunt abruptly ended her segment with Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt when Leavitt brought up the fact that Jake Tapper has compared the former president to Adolf Hitler.
Tapper is set to co-host the 2024 presidential debate Thursday with Dana Bash. After showing a clip of Trump calling Biden a “worthy debater,” Hunt asked Leavitt what she expects from Biden.
“Well, first of all, it takes someone five minutes to google ‘Jake Tapper, Donald Trump’ to see that Jake Tapper has —” Leavitt began.
“Ma’am, we’re gonna stop this interview if you’re gonna keep attacking my colleagues,” Hunt interjected.
“—consistently likened President Trump to Adolf Hitler,” she finished.
CNN host abruptly cuts off interview with Trump spox as she brings up Jake Tapper comparing the former president to Hitler pic.twitter.com/tbVDswfI3H
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 24, 2024
“Ma’am, I’m gonna stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt repeated. “I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who you work for. And if you speak on his behalf, I’m willing to have this conversation.” (RELATED: ‘Don’t Want To Underestimate Him’: Donald Trump Calls Biden A ‘Worthy Debater’)
“I am stating facts that your colleagues have stated in the past. Now as for this debate — ” the Trump spokesperson said.
The interview then abruptly ended without Leavitt finishing her sentence. Hunt said the Trump spokesperson is allowed to return if she is willing to answer her questions about the debate.
You cut off my microphone for bringing up the debate moderator’s history of anti-Trump lies.
This proved our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly on Thursday.
Yet he is still willing to go into this 3-1 fight to bring his winning message to the American… https://t.co/EIsiKzvxeq
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) June 24, 2024
Tapper evoked Hitler during a Dec. 19 segment when he criticized Trump’s warning that illegal immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”
“South America, Africa, Asia. No mention of Europe in Mr. Trump’s list. And he uses the term poisoning the blood of our country. Poisoning the blood of our country. If you were to open up a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, you would find the Nazi leader describing the mixing of non-Germans with Germans as poisoning. The Jew, Hitler wrote, quote, ‘poisons the blood of others,'” Tapper said.
The debate will be held for 90 minutes in Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday with Trump set to get the final word. A CNN spokesperson praised Tapper and his co-anchor, Dana Bash, as “well respected veteran journalists” well-equipped to moderate the debate.
“Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are well respected veteran journalists who have covered politics for more than five decades combined,” a CNN spokesperson told the Daily Caller. “They have extensive experience moderating major political debates, including CNN’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate this cycle. There are no two people better equipped to co-moderate a substantial and fact-based discussion and we look forward to the debate on June 27 in Atlanta.”
