Stephen Miller, Trinity ’07, butted heads with Jake Tapper in a heated interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
The interview, which focused on details about President Donald Trump and his White House in Michael Wolff's book “Fire and Fury,” quickly turned combative. Miller, who first came into the spotlight defending facts during the Duke lacrosse scandal, began the interview, saying that the book contained incorrect information and misrepresented the president’s intellect and competency.
As the interview progressed, Miller talked at length about experiences on the campaign trail, his perceptions of the president, CNN’s negative coverage of the president and Tapper’s inability to relate to working class people. Whenever this happened, Tapper said that Miller was not answering the question he was asked and cut him off.
On Monday, CBS News reporter Arden Farhi tweeted out a transcript of Tapper and Miller’s exchange when the cameras were off.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Miller reportedly said.
“This is the reason they don’t put you on TV,” Tapper responded.
In the on-air interview, Tapper asked Miller about the Trump’s statement on Stephen Bannon, who said negative comments about the president in Wolff’s book. Miller initially brought up Trump’s statement on Bannon's quotes in the book, in which he said that “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency.” Bannon was chief executive of Trump’s campaign and chief strategist at the White House, before he left Aug. 18, 2017.
“You worked hand in glove with Steve Bannon in the White House and on the campaign,” Tapper asked. “Is the president really arguing that Steve Bannon had nothing to do with him or the presidency?”
To this, Miller responded by stating that the president has been talking about trade, immigration and other salient issues to the working class for years. He proceeded to talk about Trump’s ability to tap into a phenomenon that was overlooked by the political establishment, who he referred to as “so-called” geniuses.
In response, Tapper noted that the only person who has called himself a genius recently is Trump. Miller agreed with Trump’s description of himself, adding that Trump is a “self-made billionaire who revolutionized reality TV and who has changed the course of…”
Tapper interrupted Miller there, saying, “I’m sure he’s watching and he’s happy that you said that.”
Miller called Tapper “condescending” and attempted to say that CNN has 24/7 negative coverage of Trump and the viewers deserved to hear three minutes of the truth. At the same time, Tapper was trying to ask Miller about Bannon’s role in the travel ban executive order, of which Miller was a chief architect, and other policy issues taken on by the White House.
After a few more exchanges like this, Tapper decided to cut Miller off for good.
"I think I've wasted enough of my viewers' time," Tapper said. "Thank you, Stephen."
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Class of 2019
Editor-in-chief 2017-18,
Local and national news department head 2016-17
Born in Hyderabad, India, Likhitha Butchireddygari moved to Baltimore at a young age. She is pursuing a Program II major entitled "Digital Democracy and Data" about the future of the American democracy.