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CNN anchor Jim Acosta accused Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) on Wednesday of “engaging in a game of whataboutism” and refusing to “take a stand” on President Donald Trump’s blanket pardons of January 6 rioters, all while wondering if Republicans were now “betraying the blue.”
After months of flirting with the idea of releasing what he called the “J6 hostages,” Trump returned to the White House and decided to issue sweeping pardons to nearly 1,600 defendants who were convicted of crimes related to the violent Capitol riots, which were sparked by Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral loss.
Among those given clemency included over 600 people who were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers. Additionally, Trump either pardoned or commuted the sentences of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and 13 of their acolytes who were convicted of seditious conspiracy or other violent crimes related to the January 6 attack. This was despite Vice President JD Vance assuring the public that nobody who “committed violence that day” should receive a pardon.
With Republicans struggling to defend the president’s unpopular decision, Acosta brought on Burchett and immediately began grilling him on whether he supported Trump pardoning far-right militia leaders convicted of assaulting police and planning an insurrectionist attack.
Noting that he recently spoke to former Capitol police officer Harry Dunn and Rhodes’ ex-wife, who said they both now worried for their safety, the CNN anchor asked the congressman whether he agreed with Trump’s decision to pardon violent people.
“If they were truly violent, no. But do I know that they were? I don’t know that,” Burchett replied, prompting Acosta to fire back: “What do you mean you don’t know?! We’re showing the footage on the air right now. You were there that day!”
The Tennessee lawmaker, meanwhile, instantly dodged that question by wondering why Acosta wasn’t “condemning” the commutations Joe Biden gave to death row inmates before leaving office. This would set the stage for how the rest of the contentious interview would play out.
With the CNN host repeatedly pressing Burchett to “take a stand,” the congressman falsely claimed that Trump didn’t actually issue “blanket pardons” and instead refused to “release” several convicted felons who were charged with violent crimes. It appeared that Burchett was confused by the fact that the president commuted the sentences of Rhodes and other Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members, which resulted in them being immediately released from prison. Trump has said he will continue to review those cases and decide if they deserve pardons.
“We’re talking about the leader of the Oath Keepers, the leader of the Proud Boys. They should be released from prison?!” Acosta wondered.
“What about the leader of the FBI? What about the FBI agents who were on the grounds who were in that mess?” Burchett retorted, peddling the conspiracy theory that the insurrection was a “false flag” orchestrated by the feds to entrap MAGA supporters.
Eventually, an exasperated Acosta pressed the far-right lawmaker on how Republicans can continue to claim they are champions of law enforcement in the face of Trump giving clemency to people who attacked police.
“What happened to ‘Back the Blue’? What happened to backing police officers? Your party has time and again said: ‘We back the blue.’ It sounds like you let down the blue! It sounds like you’re betraying the blue,” Acosta emphatically declared.
After Burchett deflected by bringing up the violent protests following the murder of George Floyd, falsely claiming that “no one went to jail” amid the riots that resulted in burned buildings and police cars. “Where’s your crocodile tears for that,” he huffed.
“You’re engaging in a game of whataboutism. People were obviously prosecuted,” Acosta replied, only for the congressman to prove him right.
“Well, what about what you do at CNN every day!” Burchett groused.
“What are you talking about what we do at CNN every day?!” Acosta shot back. “We didn’t storm the Capitol. These people did! And President Trump let them out of jail! Why not just say: ‘You were wrong, Mr. President?’ Why can’t you say it?”
The back-and-forth would continue for several more minutes, with Burchett waving off Acosta’s questions about whether he’s concerned if any of these pardoned criminals would re-offend by insisting they’ll “go back to jail” unless “Joe Biden appointed judges” or “Soros-backed” district attorneys oversaw the cases.
Meanwhile, when Burchett wasn’t dodging Acosta’s questions, he insulted the anchor and his network with ad hominem attacks.
“This is not Fox, Congressman. You can‘t just spin a tale and pull the wool over people‘s eyes. This is CNN. This is the news. We are asking you to come on and tell the truth,” Acosta stated.
“And that’s why more people are watching the Cartoon Network and Spongebob reruns right now, Jim,” Burchett sneered.
