A CNN panel went wildly off the rails Monday evening as one among the company angrily chastised Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), accusing the congressman of mendacity on air.
Keith Boykin, a former White House aide to Bill Clinton, clashed with Donalds on NewsNight With Abby Phillip, alleging that Donalds was making false claims about crime growing beneath President Joe Biden. The pair began buying and selling barbs after watching a clip of Donald Trump calling for “one rough hour” to finish crime.
Phillip requested Donalds if Trump was “suggesting that cops can do whatever they want for a day and that will actually solve the problem?”
“No, he’s not,” Donalds answered. “And even the clip you just played was five seconds out of, for Donald Trump, an hour speech. I think a lot of times people say, ‘Oh well, he said this.’ For five seconds? Yes, he says things that are unscripted, he goes off the cuff. He’s not serious. There’s no policy behind that.”
Boykin pushed again. “Donald Trump has a history of saying inflammatory things,” he stated, addressing Donalds. “It’s not just those five seconds congressman, and you know that.”
The pair then began squabbling about violent rhetoric, with Boykin telling Donalds he wished the congressman would “have the courage to stand up to your dear leader and tell him when he’s doing wrong.” Donalds hit again by asking if they might discuss “the rhetoric directed at Donald Trump” in gentle of the two obvious assassination makes an attempt he’s survived.
They clashed once more quickly after when Phillip requested Donalds how Trump’s name for a “rough hour” wasn’t violent rhetoric.
“We have to acknowledge the reality going on in every city in America,” Donalds stated, with Boykin chopping in to say he wasn’t answering the query. “That is answering the question,” Donalds continued, “Because the reality in America—hold on Keith—the reality in America is that crime is massively up.”
At that time, Boykin’s persistence snapped.
“Crime is not massively up!” Boykin yelled, thumping the desk. “That’s a lie! You’re lying congressman! You’re lying!”
As Phillip tried to revive order, Boykin requested her: “Abby, why do you let this man lie on national television like this? This is not right. You are a liar, congressman!”
“You’re lying to the American people now!” Donalds hit again.
After chopping in, Phillip defined that the FBI had launched information Monday “showing that crime is down this year for the first six months of the year.” The present additionally displayed a development line displaying violent crime falling from a peak in 2022—however Donalds continued to insist that crime has elevated “since the pandemic to this current point.”
They proceeded to argue about easy methods to interpret the information. “I’m not gonna sit here and let this man lie all night on television,” an exasperated Boykin stated at one level in the trade.
