A CNN anchor laughed in a Republican senator's face Tuesday morning when the lawmaker tried to make a case that former President Donald Trump had aced his rambling Mar-a-Lago press conference last week.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) repeatedly tried to claim Vice President Kamala Harris did not have the skills Trump showcased during a lengthy media exchange that saw the former president falsely claim he'd nearly crashed in a helicopter with a California politician who denies it ever happened.
"You said that you're not sure that Vice President Harris would be coherent in an interview," CNN anchor John Berman replied, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Did you watch former President Trump's news conference last week? Would one of the first words that comes to mind be 'coherent?'"
Schmitt took a breath, praised Trump's answering questions for more than an hour, then tried to pivot back to Harris. Berman interrupted.
"But Donald Trump," Berman said with a laugh. "When he tells stories about people in helicopters that he was not with, helicopters that did not crash, in conversations that did not happen, how coherent is that?"
Schmitt did not defend the story, but again praised Trump for answering questions from a "hostile" press.
Interestingly, Schmitt's own interview began with the former Missouri attorney general dodging Berman's question about how he'd respond to a Harris victory in November.
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"Do you feel that it would be grounds for a lawsuit if she were to win the election?" Berman asked.
"I don't know about that," Schmitt replied. "But anybody with a brain who's observing what happened understands there was a coup."
"Would you rule it out?"
"That's not what I'm talking about," snapped Schmitt. "Democrats have tried to jail their political opponents. They've tried to censor Americans....Now they've installed someone without getting any votes — that's the real threat to democracy."
"I'm just trying to establish whether or not this might be a predicate for a future lawsuit," Berman replied, "because let's be honest, there is a history here and a history you were involved with, with challenging election results."
