On Sunday morning “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper cut short an interview with White House trade advisor Peter Navarro after the Donald Trump appointee insulted CNN’s coverage of the COVID-19 health crisis and refused to answer questions about why the president lied to the public about it.
Over a combative nine minutes, the CNN host repeatedly asked Navarro about the taped comments the president made about the coronavirus pandemic in an interview with Bob Woodward and how they conflicted with his public statements.
With Navarro continually calling citing the president’s comments “cherry-picking” and refusing to address direct questions, Tapper finally called an end to the interview and then fact-checked the White House adviser after he was taken off the screen.
“He knew it was deadlier than the flu and he was lying to the American public two weeks later,” Tapper accused.
“Jake, you’re cherry-picking,” Navarro shot back.
“I’m not cherry-picking. He was not honest with the American people. you’re not answering the question,” the CNN host pressed.
“You’re not honest with the American people. CNN is not honest with the American people. You want to go there?” Navarro replied which led Tapper to call the interview off.
“I said you’re not answering the question. Thank you, Peter Navarro. We just played tape and you didn’t answer the question,” Tapper said over the Trump adviser’s protestations.
“I appreciate your time today. and I would just like to remind the American people that the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, and the United States has more than 20 percent of the world’s coronavirus deaths,” Tapper explained. “That is a fact. It does not matter how many times he insults CNN.”
Watch below: