Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) accused Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of doing exactly what Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is doing now with the government's private jets. However, host Erin Burnett smacked down the Santorum commentary by playing previous attacks on Pelosi by Price, calling it hypocrisy.
"I don't think we have to argue about Nancy Pelosi and what she did or didn't do," Burnett said. "We have Tom Price saying what he thought of Nancy Pelosi at the time, which brings up hypocrisy."
Recent findings revealed that Price's use of private jets has climbed to $1 million. According to Burnett, President Donald Trump was furious when learning the news. Price announced Thursday that he intends to reimburse the government for just over $50,000 of the $1 million, saying it covers the cost of "my seat."
She went on to play multiple cases of Price attacking Pelosi of using the private jet to "fly over people." Host Anderson Cooper followed Burnett's show playing the same video and quipped, "ahh the magic of video."
"He should have never been hired," said Bakari Sellers. "Let's not forget between 2012 and 2016, this same person, Secretary Price, traded over $300,000 worth of stock related to 40 companies he had legislation that affected these companies. He's had an allergy, a severe allergy to ethics. Now that the tab is over $1 million and he's writing a check for $52,000, the Trump White House are inept at handling crisis. He is not refunding what the private or charter jet would cost. He pulled the wool over our eyes once. He's trying twice. The swamp is not being drained, the alligators are being replaced."
Daily Beast editor John Avlon agreed saying that it was outright hypocrisy.
"I'm not calling for Tom Price to resign," Avlon explained after Santorum's accusations. "I'm talking hypocrisy in politics. In the case of Nancy Pelosi, she was using the same jet Dennis Hastert did when he was Speaker of House. She asked for a larger jet because she lived in California and there were refueling concerns. It's not parallel at all."
Pelosi was also known for carrying many of the other members of the California delegation on the plane. Sellers noted that many members of former President Barack Obama's administration were seen on commercial flights. He specifically cited a case in which he saw former Labor Secretary Tom Perez stuck in a middle seat on a commercial flight.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman called it "ironic on two levels."
Anderson Cooper later said that Price is literally flying over the swamp that Trump promised to drain.
"This is continuing the swamp on a private plane," Haberman responded.
Price has attempted to claim that the HHS Department is searching for the leakers revealing the information like the use of the private jets and chartered planes. Sellers shot back that this story isn't about the leaks but rather it's about the corruption.
Watch the full video below:
CNN host smacks down Rick Santorum with past... by sarahburris
