John Berman pinned Tennesee Senator Bill Hagerty into a corner when he tried to do damage control over former Trump staffer John Kelly's stories about the President.
General Kelly, who served as Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, has finally gone on the record, speaking out against Trump's fascist tendencies and lack of respect for the military. Considering Kelly's service to his country and reputation, it is hard to believe that he would lie about such a thing. GOP Republicans in thrall to Trump, though, have little recourse but to say he is.
Berman asked his guest, "John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general. He was chief of staff and Secretary of Homeland Security while you were ambassador to Japan. Did he ever lie to you about anything?" Hagerty responded, "I never am aware of John Kelly lying to me about anything, no."
The CNN host then pressed, "All right, so why doubt what he is now saying on the record out loud about these conversations?" The Senator responded:
"Because it’s wholly inconsistent with my experience with President Trump. I also have reason to doubt it because there have been articles published about 'losers' and the things that were supposedly said in Normandy. I called the ambassador right away. Again, these are old stories that are being drug up, of course, within two weeks of the election. But when I called the ambassador, she said absolutely not true, what was attributed to John Kelly. Twenty other staffers said that was the case as well. I think this is being brought up at a time to divert and deflect."