Mark Meadows mocked for claiming Trump used the word ‘metaphorically’

CNN host Jim Acosta blasted Mark Meadows on Saturday for whitewashing the events of Jan. 6 while continuing to push Donald Trump's "big lie" in his new book.

"The book is called The Chief's Chief," Acosta said. "It could be called The Cheat's Cheat. Mark Meadows is doing a little 'CYA' here — cover your autocrat."

Reporter Marshall Cohen responded by calling it "a very sycophantic book."

"It's 100 percent pro-Trump," Cohen told Acosta. "He says he wants Trump to run again in 2024, but besides all the politics, there is a lot of important stuff that will be of interest to the Jan. 6 investigation. Make no mistake, he is totally peddling the big lie, still. There is a lot of stuff in this book ... that's still pushing the same debunked claims about ballot irregularities and voter fraud that has no merit to it whatsoever, and then on Jan. 6, he's trying to absolve President Trump of any responsibility."

Cohen pointed to a passage from the book in which Meadows wrote that after leaving the stage during the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, "President Trump let me know that he had been speaking metaphorically about the walk to the Capitol. He knew as well as anyone that we couldn't organize a trip like that on such short notice. It was clear the whole time that he didn't actually intend to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with the crowd."

"They're washing their hands of this," Cohen said, before noting that several Jan. 6 insurrectionists have said they had no plans to go to the Capitol after Trump's speech until the former president gave them the idea.

"I covered Trump for a long time," Acosta responded. "I never heard him use the word 'metaphorically.' It makes you wonder, if he's still peddling the big lie, why should we believe anything in this book? It's a book for one reader I suppose — the dear leader."

"It might be for one reader, but there will be other readers on the Jan. 6 committee in the House," Cohen responded. "They are looking at this book. Of course, remember, Meadows is someone who got a subpoena. He will be going in to to testify on a few specific topics. They want him to talk about everything. They're saying now, some of the Democrats on that committee, they've said, 'If you can write about it in a book, for profit, you can talk about it under oath for our investigation.'"

Watch below.

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