Former President Donald Trump's campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski criticized CNN on Newsmax Monday for cutting off Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt's microphone during a live interview.
Lewandowski accused CNN of hypocrisy and bias, stating that the network silenced Leavitt for simply repeating anti-Trump comments made on air by CNN anchor Jake Tapper. Leavitt's microphone was cut off during an appearance on CNN when she echoed Tapper's comments while discussing his role as a debate moderator.
Tapper, along with Dana Bash, has been chosen for the first televised presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, scheduled for June 27.
Appearing on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," Lewandowski elaborated on the incident: "Well, the hypocrisy was that Caroline Leavitt was simply repeating exactly what Jake Tapper said on his own network, and they stopped her and said, 'you can't say those things and disparage my colleague,' Kasie Hunt said."
"All she [Leavitt] literally did was repeating verbatim what Jake said and the network and Kasie, saying that was disparaging," he added. "If those are disparaging remarks about Jake Tapper, maybe he shouldn't have said them in the first place. And it absolutely calls into question if he's an unbiased resource in this, and we know he's not."
Supporters of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, united in their condemnation of CNN's actions, took to social media. They accused the network of silencing dissenting voices and questioned its commitment to unbiased reporting, standing together in their defense of Leavitt's legitimate criticisms of Tapper, Newsweek reported.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek on Monday, a CNN spokesperson responded to the critique: "Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are respected veteran journalists with over five decades of political coverage experience combined. They have moderated major political debates, including CNN's Republican Presidential Primary Debate this cycle. No two people are better equipped to co-moderate a substantial and fact-based discussion. We look forward to the debate on June 27 in Atlanta."
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