'A lie is a lie, in the morning and at night': CNN panel smacks down Jack Kingston as he tries to defend Trump

A CNN panel on Tuesday ripped Donald Trump surrogate Jack Kingston for brushing off the president’s penchant for telling lies, with host Don Lemon accusing the former U.S. representative of “condoning bad behavior.”

“You have to call it what it is, a lie is a lie, in the morning and at night — all day long,” Lemon told the panel.

The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, when asked about Trump’s tendency to fudge the facts, noted, “Trump is not so much a liar but he is a BS’er.”

“He throws stuff against the wall and throws out arguments and information that may be true, may not be true, it's whatever he can do to get through that moment, that situation,” Lizza explained. “And his understanding of the line between what is fact and fiction is not very clear.”

“He's gotten pretty far as a BS’er,” Lizza explained. “It’s not like he’s going to change now.”

Kingston tired to argue “the American perception is that politicians lie,” and Trump is simply in-step with that perception.

“But not like this,” the panel noted.

“You’re defining everything down because people have a cynical negative view of politicians,” Lizza explained. “We should just go with that and allow the worst traits and the worst instincts to prevail?”


After some back and forth, Lizza asked Kingston if he has children.

“Yes, I have kids,” Kingston replied.

“When they were little, did they ever tell a lie?” Pizza asked. “When they told a lie, did you say, ‘Don't worry, son, it's no big deal?’ Or did you actually say to them why they shouldn't lie?”

“Jack, it sounds like you're condoning bad behavior,” Lemon added.

Watch below, via CNN: