Jake Tapper pulls plug on Stephen Miller's trainwreck interview
CNN’s Jake Tapper has a message for top White House aide Stephen Miller: Stop wasting my viewers’ time.
Tapper shut down his tense interview Sunday with President Donald Trump’s senior policy adviser after Miller continued to parrot talking points touting his boss while also attacking CNN.
“I think I have wasted enough of my viewers’ time,” Tapper told Miller as he abruptly ended the aide’s air-time.
Watch the full exchange below:
Before he was cut off, Miller fumbled when asked whether Trump met the Russian operatives after his son, Donald Trump Jr., got together with them in the infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. In an explosive new book by journalist Michael Wolff, former White House chief strategist Steven Bannon suggested there was “zero” chance Trump Jr. didn’t take the Russians to meet his father.
Despite having “no knowledge” of the meeting, Miller said he was certain all of the allegations in Wolff’s book are “a pure work of fiction” and “nothing but a pile of trash through and through.”
(Bannon on Sunday issued a statement expressing “regret” for his comments to Wolff about the meeting, which he had called “treasonous.”)
Miller, during his CNN appearance, praised Trump as “a self-made billionaire who revolutionized reality TV and who has changed the course of our politics.” He also lauded Trump as a “political genius.”
“I’m sure he’s watching and he’s happy that you said that,” Tapper responded.
Miller, in turn, scolded Tapper for making “condescending” and “snide” remarks and bashed CNN for airing “24 hours of negative, anti-Trump, hysterical coverage.”
″I think the viewers right now can ascertain who is being hysterical,” Tapper responded. “You’re being obsequious, you’re being a factotum in order to please [Trump].”
While Trump had a decidedly different view of the segment, many Twitter users applauded Tapper’s decision to pull the plug on Miller.
This is what a real "No Spin Zone" looks like - well done, @jaketapper - Tapper Cuts Off WH Adviser Stephen Miller in Tense Interview https://t.co/l7gnLZtiQx via @thedailybeast
— John Avlon (@JohnAvlon) January 7, 2018
Jake Tapper is a boss. pic.twitter.com/9hyG98bgif
— ERIC BALFOUR (@ERICBALFOUR) January 7, 2018
Kudos to Jake Tapper for kicking Stephen Miller off the air. Miller had no interest in having a conversation. He only wanted to take shots at CNN (accused CNN of “trying to stick the knife in” 24/7) and kiss Trump’s ass by calling him a genius. pic.twitter.com/RSBhYzxgRq
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) January 7, 2018
Gotta love the way @jaketapper didn’t allow Miller to just fawn over Trump and turned to the other camera while Miller was still bloviating.
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) January 7, 2018
Just watched @jaketapper interview with @StephenMillerAL. Great job by Tapper as usual. Miller was on that show for 1 reason... to make @realDonaldTrump feel better after a bad week.
Best line from Tapper after the break?
“Welcome back to State of the Union... and planet earth”— Jason Page (@TheBackPage) January 7, 2018
Jake Tapper to Stephen Miller: pic.twitter.com/OLIyRj60zU
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) January 7, 2018
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.