CNN ends interview with Peter Navarro after heated exchange [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• During his interview with President Donald Trump’s aide Peter Navarro, CNN anchor Jake Tapper abruptly cut short the interview after repeating his questions and not getting a straightforward answer from the White House officer.
• Tapper repeatedly asked why Trump was “misleading the public” and being dishonest, to which Navarro answered with their private strategies during the early period of the virus outbreak.
• Public experts have largely pointed the severity of US’ COVID-19 cases to Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic.

On Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper’s exclusive interview with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro ended in a heated exchange. The exclusive airing focused on President Donald Trump’s degradation of the coronavirus crisis, which the trade adviser denied ━ resulting in Tapper unexpectedly cutting the interview.

Tapper asked Navarro to discuss Trump’s February 7th interview with journalist Bob Woodward, which was released last week. In the interview, the president said that the virus is five times more fatal than the flu.

Despite being aware of the serious virus threat, Trump proceeded to hold huge rallies. Moreover, during a February 26 interview with reporters, he said that the flu was more dangerous than the virus.

Tapper asked Navarro why Trump “was misleading the public.”

Navarro indirectly addressed the question and instead discussed the administration’s internal strategies for handling the virus before the outbreak began. He also lauded the president’s actions.

Tapper asked Navarro: “Why wasn’t the president straightforward with the American people?”

Navarro responded by saying that Trump was straightforward.

Tapper disagreed and told Navarro: “No, he wasn’t. … Just answer the question. It’s a very basic question. He was not honest with the American people. You’re not answering the question.”

Navarro then replied: “You’re wrong. You’re not honest with the American people. CNN is not honest with the American people. CNN ― you wanna go there?”

Not holding back, Tapper said: “I said you’re not answering the question. Here’s the thing. Thank you, Peter Navarro. We just played tape ― you didn’t answer the question.”

Navarro still argued: “You can’t say that. I answered the question repeatedly. You just didn’t like the answer.”

Tapper then cut the interview short and addressed the viewers that “the US has less than five percent of the world’s population, and the US has more than 20 percent of the world’s recorded coronavirus deaths.”

Public experts were largely blaming the Trump administration’s mismanagement of the pandemic that resulted in obtaining record high confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Source: AOL.com