A Republican strategist got forceful pushback on CNN on Friday night as he tried to downplay former President Donald Trump's remarks that he would deport special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the election subversion case against the MAGA leader.
Anchor Anderson Cooper told Republican Brad Todd it's "not normal for someone who wants to be president of the United States to talk about deporting a special counsel, a guy who is just assigned to this and doing his job."
When Todd started to say "he doesn't mean that about Jack Smith," both Cooper and Democratic panelist Ashley Allison — a former national coalitions director for the Biden-Harris campaign — protested:
"What do you mean he doesn't mean that?" interjected Cooper. "He just — he said it."
"What do you mean?" chimed in Allison. "Then why say it?!"
But Todd didn't budge.
"This is the way Donald Trump talks," he said. "He doesn't mean it about Jack Smith. It's for effect."
The panel pounced on Todd, though, with New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro interjecting, "I'm sorry. That doesn't fly anymore."
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"It's unacceptable!" shouted Allison, as Garcia-Navarro continued, "You cannot keep on saying the things that Donald Trump says don't mean anything. We know that they do."
She insisted that his first term showed the things Trump says and tweets eventually become policy.
"You can talk about rhetoric but there are policies to back them up. This isn't just about words."
After Cooper noted MAGA supporters held up "Mass deportation" signs at the Republican National Convention, Todd noted that people know Trump's immigration plan — and he leads that issue by 16 points.
"She's the one that's out of step with where the public is here, not Donald Trump," he said.
Allison then shouted at Todd that Trump's stance isn't an immigration policy — "That's a dictator!"
"That's a fascist!" she added. "Deporting American citizens because they're doing their job and serving their country — that's not an immigration policy!"
Watch the heated exchange below or at this link.