'I'm not attacking you!' Republican clashes with CNN host over Trump 'scum' comments

CNN's Kate Bolduan clashed with a Republican lawmaker over President Donald Trump's role in promoting political violence.

The president blamed left-wing "scum" for the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told "CNN News Central" that Trump was justified in making that claim because he had also been targeted by two would-be assassins.

"Ma'am, it's all over, it's not just the president," Burchett said. "The guy was shot at, he was shot at once, and he was almost assassinated twice. Look back at my friend Steve Scalise when he was shot. The guy had what was called, he had a Republican hunting list, and it took us five years, ma'am, five years to get that, to get that changed by the FBI."

The FBI had initially classified that 2017 shooting as a "suicide by cop," which was changed nearly four years later to an act of domestic terrorism A congressional probe faulted the bureau in May for "gross mishandling" of the case.

"If this could be a turning point," Bolduan said, "I've seen from many saying that it should be expected to start from the leaders, it should be expected to start from a president of the United States to move forward and bring that temperature down. If he is not going to, what do you do with it? What do you do about it?"

Burchett blamed media outlets like CNN for turning up the temperature.

"Well, what do you all do with it? You keep putting it out," Burchett said. "If you all truly wanted this to change in the media at CNN and other places, your editorial board would say, we're not going to put this stuff out. But yet you continue to put it out and that continues to stir the base, ma'am."

Bolduan took exception to the congressman's allegation.

"No, no, no," she said. "I'm creating a conversation, and I have been, and I take pride in the fact that we do bring the temperature down on this program, and I'm definitely redoubling efforts to do that now by playing the words of the president in order to bring about conversation with an elected member of Congress.

"That's not trying to stir, that's trying to have conversation and that's trying to ask you what you thought about it, rather than have you come back and attack me about it."

Burchett insisted he wasn't attacking Bolduan personally but doubled down on blaming CNN for political polarization.

"Well, ma'am, I'm not attacking you," he said. "I'm just letting you know that you all need to look within at CNN if you want to continue this down this path, because clearly your ratings show that, and the conservative movement is showing that they're not watching you because of that.

"If you truly had some objective reporting, instead of constantly attacking conservatives and Republicans, then there would be a change, I think, but there's not going to be a change. You all don't want to change down deep. Maybe you do, ma'am, but I dare say that the vast majority of your colleagues do not. They do not come from the conservative spectrum. They see this as just a Republican-type situation, and it is absolutely not. You're seeing as much or more on the left than you are from the right, and this is just down that same road once again and it will, and it proves my point that this will never change."

Bolduan disagreed and suggested the congressman didn't know what he was talking about.

"Yeah, but making broad brush statements about any group of people or vast generalizations when you are not involved in any internal discussions within this network or any other network is also not moving the ball forward in a positive way," Bolduan said. "Congressman, thank you for your time."

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