CNN anchor Kasie Hunt ended a live interview with Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt after accusations of bias were leveled against the network’s debate moderators.
The incident occurred on Monday and quickly intensified discussions about media impartiality ahead of Thursday’s presidential debate.
The interview began with a focus on former President Donald Trump’s preparation and approach to the upcoming debate, differing from his strategies in 2020.
Leavitt stated, “President Trump knows what he wants to say, and he’s going to relay his vision to the American people to make this country strong, safe, secure, and wealthy again.” She then criticized the impartiality of the debate’s moderators, claiming, “President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years and their biased coverage of him.”
Hunt defended her colleagues, stating that both Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are professionals who interview figures from across the political spectrum.
The exchange heated up when Leavitt accused Tapper of comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler, saying, “Well, first of all, it takes about five minutes to Google Jake Tapper, Donald Trump to see that Jake Tapper has…” before being interrupted by Hunt, who firmly stated, “Ma’am, we’re going to stop this interview if you’re going to keep attacking my colleagues.”
Despite the warning, Leavitt continued, leading Hunt to conclude the interview. “She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump,” Hunt remarked as the segment ended.
The fallout from the interview was immediate and intense.
Hunt defended her actions on Twitter, asserting, “You come on my show, you respect my colleagues. Period. I don’t care what side of the aisle you stand on, as my track record clearly shows.”
This tweet sparked a massive online debate, evidenced by a significant ratio of replies to likes, with many accusing Hunt of bias and censorship.
Critics on Twitter, like the meme account Cattured, responded harshly: “LOL – Everything she said was true – and you showed zero respect for your guest. And please quit pretending to be fair – you’re a paid propagandist for the Democrat party.”
Another commenter, Jeff Carlson, echoed this sentiment, “You’re not a journalist. You’re a regime propagandist. One who was dumb enough to demonstrate on live tv that you’ll censor the truth.”
Leavitt also took to Twitter to reinforce her point, tweeting, “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.”
The upcoming debate, which is the earliest in presidential election history, promises to be fraught with further controversy, particularly given the lack of a studio audience, a condition requested by the Biden campaign.
This incident has only intensified concerns among Trump’s supporters regarding CNN’s capability to fairly moderate what is likely to be a pivotal moment in the election cycle.