Jenna Ellis and Brian Stelter scolded, yelled and spoke over each other when arguing about journalistic integrity.
The senior legal adviser to President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign on Sunday condemned CNN’s recent presidential poll as “misleading junk science” in a contentious interview on the network.
The “Reliable Sources” interview, lasting more than 10 minutes, consisted largely of the adviser, Jenna Ellis, and CNN host Brian Stelter scolding, yelling and speaking over each other.
At the heart of the dispute was a CNN poll released last Monday that showed former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, leading Trump by 14 points among registered voters. Ellis repeatedly characterized the poll as “junk” because it included adults who are not registered voters, though the head-to-head Biden-Trump numbers were exclusively based on the opinions of registered voters. The overall poll, which included other questions, featured 1,259 adults — 1,125 of them registered voters.
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign sent a letter co-signed by Ellis to the network demanding a retraction. “It’s a stunt and a phony poll to cause voter suppression, stifle momentum and enthusiasm for the President,” the letter stated.
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Ellis on Sunday accused the network of “putting out activism,” telling Stelter: “No pollster in the world would stand behind this as a legitimate poll, according to industry standards.”
Stelter defended the integrity of the poll. “That’s a normal polling procedure,” he said.
The conversation became increasingly heated after that. “Are you just going to interrupt me this whole time?” Ellis asked at one point.
“It’s important to interrupt when you share fake information,” Stelter said. He later told her: “You’re wasting my time.”
Ellis and Stelter also argued over a libel suit filed earlier this year by the campaign against CNN over an opinion piece that the campaign says contained false information.
Ellis tried to pin down Stelter on the question of whether it is ever OK to publish provably false statements, even in opinion columns. Stelter declined to be drawn into that debate, saying he was not the one being interviewed. “I’d still really like to know if @brianstelter thinks it’s okay to put out factually false statements on CNN or any media platform,” Ellis tweeted afterward.
At one point near the end of the interview, Stelter told Ellis she would eventually feel guilt over these “slurs“ against the media: “Someday, you‘re going to regret this when your kids and grandkids look back at this time.”
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- Discussion
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A Trump 2020 senior legal adviser repeatedly characterized a CNN presidential poll as “junk” in an interview on the network Sunday https://t.co/skaOqggMfL
— POLITICO (@politico) June 15, 2020
"You understand that some day, you're going to regret this, right" when your kids and your grandkids see it.
– @brianstelter to @JennaEllisEsq
Faulty assumption: That people who work for Trump are capable of shame. https://t.co/rkcMgQbBq3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
Oh, it's not sexist, @JennaEllisEsq. I think everyone who has justified and enabled the President's abuses of power, man or woman, should feel ashamed of what they've done.
But you're not capable of shame, or you wouldn't have taken the job in the first place. https://t.co/yHikaDbJgV
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
This is from @JennaEllisEsq, a senior legal adviser to Donald Trump, who suggests that I should be embarrassed about a perfectly sensible tweet – while she is working for a man whose tweets caused her to melt down on national television this morning when she was asked about them. https://t.co/EWeRkiR5QD
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
I did indeed watch your entire attempt to use the Wall of Sound, @JennaEllisEsq. Like all Trumpers, you're terrified of questions. But thank you for the @ProjectLincoln shout-out and the reminder that we live in the President's head (and yours) rent-free.https://t.co/nY9P4FWZgf https://t.co/SsgHorZ3A9
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
There's this thing called "video," @JennaEllisEsq.
You engaged in standard Trumper media tactics: Talking over the host, interrupting continually, changing the subject, and filling the air with verbal confetti bursts. And it all showed – again – that you have no sense of shame. https://t.co/Qq5w8oqq8N— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
I watched the whole segment in real time, Ms. Ellis. You were engaging in a performance for an audience of one, a fusillade of slogans and catch-phrases. As is the case with all Trumpers on media, interrupting you is the only way to stop you from filibustering the entire segment. https://t.co/7BHwWA4jXH
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 14, 2020
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