A fed-up CNN panelist proclaimed she was "absolutely exhausted" on Friday night and called it "insane" as MAGA Republicans insisted that both Democrats and Republicans bear blame for extreme rhetoric.
The discussion was kicked off over reporting that Mark Milley, a former top general for Trump, called the former president a "total fascist" and "The most dangerous person ever."
Republicans and Democrats on the panel disagreed over whether Milley's words were accurate, with Marc Lotter, former special assistant to Trump, sparring with Leigh McGowan, a social media host and content creator with the handle PoliticsGirl.
Lotter noted that Trump wasn't a "hypothetical president" — "He was the president."
"You can go back and look at this record — " Lotter started to say in defense that the former president is not as Milley described.
But McGowan cut him off and fired back that Trump's own closest aides, including his vice president, 40 cabinet members and top generals "will not support him."
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"They're saying, 'We worked as close as we possibly could with him and we won't hire him again," she said.
When Lotter went on the offensive and accused Democrats of having nothing to campaign on except fear of Trump, McGowan insisted they have much more to run on — but that Trump is a "danger" and those closest to him are saying so.
"This man is an absolute danger," she said.
An irate Lotter shot back: "There have been two assassination attempts against this man because of this irresponsible rhetoric about someone being a danger. Can we stop it?!"
As someone insisted Trump is a danger, Lotter replies, "Can we stop this nonsense?"
Host Abby Phillip played a clip of Trump stating that "no person has inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris has inflicted" on the community of Aurora, Colorado. When she asked Lotter if Trump's rhetoric was irresponsible, Lotter denied the charge.
"No, he was talking about a policy issue," he said, pointing out that Trump was at an immigration event.
After playing a second clip of Trump calling Harris a "Marxist" and a "fascist" — and addressing her as a "comrade" — fellow Republican Coleman Hughes jumped in and said "both sides absolutely use extreme rhetoric."
"I would argue that is the bread and butter of a political campaign so let's not play the game where we try to pretend —" he said.
But McGowan interjected again.
"I'm absolutely exhausted by this 'both sides do this thing,'" she said. "This is insane. This literally insane!"
Watch the clip below or at this link.
