So desperate was CNN to make something stick against former President Trump in the last few days of the election, they spent much of their Friday newscasts peddling the false claims that he threated Liz Cheney with a firing squad. Host Jake Tapper got more than he bargained for on The Lead, when Tennessee Republican Senator Bill Hagerty confronted him over his network’s “distortion” of Trump’s comments, even calling out their political motivations.

“Are you comfortable with the part of what he said when he talked about the guns trained on her face, nine barrels shooting at her?” Tapper ridiculously asked Hagerty.

Hagerty tried to simplify Trump’s argument so even a CNN journalist could understand, explaining how war hawks like the Cheneys don’t see the horrific consequences of the wars they promote (Click “expand”):

Jake. What he's doing – and if you take the whole thing into context he's trying to explain that there are people in Washington that make decisions that involve people's lives. Those decision are made and are our service members’ lives are put at risk.

Take the decision about Afghanistan and the withdrawal there. 13 servicemen and women were killed that day in Kabul. That was because of a poor decision that was taken in Washington by people that had no skin in the game. I had to personally call Ryan Knauss's parents that day about what had happened. Kamala Harris is yet to call them.

I mean, these decisions are critical, they're vital, and these people need to put themselves in the shoes of those who are actually going to be on the front line. That's the point that President Trump was trying to make.

“I think the reason this is blowing up right now is because we're only four days away from the election, President Trump is winning, and this is another desperate hoax. Just like the bloodbath hoax,” he called out CNN’s political motivations.

In a pathetic attempt to protect CNN, Taper proclaimed: “You know, we ran the clip, we ran the whole clip. And we're not saying he's calling for her to be assassinated or killed.”

But that was a BIE LIE. Earlier in the day, during Inside Politics, host Dana Bash described Trump’s comments as “very, very violent imagery of her facing guns and an assassination” (Clip included in video and isolated here).

Tapper proceeded to play dumb about how they were willingly taking part in a Democratic hoax about the nature and meaning of Trump’s comments; and played dumber about the Cheneys’ hawkish attitudes on war:

TAPPER: I don't know how you define hoax, this is not a hoax. We ran his clip and you know, there are people who are legitimately offended by that.

HAGERTY: It's a distortion, Jake. This is a –

TAPPER: I ran the entire quote, Senator. We ran the entire thing. And I have not –

HAGERTY: This is distortion about violence. And the violence he's talking about is the violence that's perpetrated on our men and women in service and the decisions that are made by people like Liz Cheney to send them into the throes.

TAPPER: Liz Cheney was an assistant secretary of State when did she send anyone into battle?

Hagerty spoke slowly so Tapper could hopefully wrap his mind around it:

I think President Trump is making a broad statement and using her as an example of the war hawks in Washington that make these decisions from the comfort of an office, perhaps not taking into account the fact that there are very serious consequences. Those consequences are realized by those people that are in the foxhole, those people that are actually in combat situations. That's what he was illustrating and nothing more.

“What he was talking about was her to consider, to consider the violence that anybody that we put into that circumstance might face. It's as simple as that,” the Senator added.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

CNN’s The Lead
November 1, 2024
4:20:10 p.m. Eastern

(…)

JAKE TAPPER: Are you comfortable with the part of what he said when he talked about the guns trained on her face, nine barrels shooting at her?

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): Jake. What he's doing – and if you take the whole thing into context he's trying to explain that there are people in Washington that make decisions that involve people's lives. Those decision are made and are our service members’ lives are put at risk.

Take the decision about Afghanistan and the withdrawal there. 13 servicemen and women were killed that day in Kabul. That was because of a poor decision that was taken in Washington by people that had no skin in the game. I had to personally call Ryan Knauss's parents that day about what had happened. Kamala Harris is yet to call them.

I mean, these decisions are critical, they're vital, and these people need to put themselves in the shoes of those who are actually going to be on the front line. That's the point that President Trump was trying to make. I think the reason this is blowing up right now is because we're only four days away from the election, President Trump is winning, and this is another desperate hoax. Just like the bloodbath hoax.

(…)

4:23:11 p.m. Eastern

TAPPER: You know, we ran the clip, we ran the whole clip. And we're not saying he's calling for her to be assassinated or killed. I think the issue is the very violent imagery. At a time when Republicans are saying, ‘oh, Democrats need to tone down the rhetoric.’

(…)

4:24:04 p.m. Eastern

JAKE TAPPER: I don't know how you define hoax, this is not a hoax. We ran his clip and you know, there are people who are legitimately offended by that.

HAGERTY: It's a distortion, Jake. This is a –

TAPPER: I ran the entire quote, Senator. We ran the entire thing. And I have not –

HAGERTY: This is distortion about violence. And the violence he's talking about is the violence that's perpetrated on our men and women in service and the decisions that are made by people like Liz Cheney to send them into the throes.

TAPPER: Liz Cheney was an assistant secretary of State when did she send anyone into battle?

HAGERTY: I think President Trump is making a broad statement and using her as an example of the war hawks in Washington that make these decisions from the comfort of an office, perhaps not taking into account the fact that there are very serious consequences. Those consequences are realized by those people that are in the foxhole, those people that are actually in combat situations. That's what he was illustrating and nothing more.

TAPPER: So, you think that anyone that takes issue with him invoking, “let's put her with a rifle, standing there with nine barrels, shooting at her when the guns aren't trained on her face.” You think anyone that takes issue with that is either perpetrating or falling victim to a hoax? There's no one that can legitimately say what I'm saying that’s violent imagery at a time

HAGERTY: What I’m saying, Jake, is that this is a distortion.

TAPPER: What's a distortion? I read – we played the whole clip?

HAGERTY: This is a distortion of what's – This is a distortion of what President Trump meant. And, you know, it President Trump wasn't calling for, you know, any type of violence on Liz Cheney.

TAPPER: I didn't say he was.

HAGERTY: What he was talking about was her to consider, to consider the violence that anybody that we put into that circumstance might face. It's as simple as that.

(…)