Michael Wolff’s Trump book was the subject of fire and fury on the set of CNN early Sunday when the host, Jake Tapper, left White House adviser, Stephen Miller, “in “flames,” as one viewer said, by pulling the plug on the interview when Miller turned the focus to the “fake news media.”
While many people were preparing for worship services, getting ready for some football with the NFL Playoffs or recovering from a long night of partying, Jake Tapper and Stephen Miller were locking horns over Michael Wolff’s new tell-all book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House . Miller appeared on a segment of CNN with Tapper where the two men jousted over the merits of the stunning book about Trump’s campaign and administration.
Jake Tapper and Stephen Miller ‘s discussion began in a rather congenial manner and quickly turned sour as Miller began attacking media outlets over alleged distorted coverage of the president. Later, Tapper accused him of attacking him, “personally.” As Daily Beast reported, Tapper objected to Miller’s manner of “wasting” the time of viewers by trying to pivot from the shocking allegations Wolff spells out in his book, as seen in the video below.
Miller said comments by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, were “grotesque” and his position and standing in the White House, as reported by the media pool, “was greatly exaggerated.”
“There’s one viewer that you care about right now and you’re being obsequious,” Tapper chided Miller. According to Google Trends, “obsequious” began trending shortly thereafter; searches were up over 4,000 percent following the interview. Tapper abruptly cut Miller off during his diatribe of the media and his defense of Trump. He then seamlessly cut to other news headlines.
CNN’s Jake Tapper cuts of contentious interview with Trump aide: “I’ve wasted enough of my viewers’ time” https://t.co/0uatNocM9o pic.twitter.com/07rzuWmBoD
— The Hill (@thehill) January 7, 2018
During a live segment of MSNBC, AM Joy host, Joy-Ann Reid, echoed Tapper’s admonishment of the Trump adviser by saying that Miller was “playing to an audience of one.” She goes on to say that “autocratic” and “Sun King” leaders like Trump demand worship from subordinates like Miller.
E.J. Dionne, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was a panelist on the show. He said that he’s never seen anything like the Trump presidency before. Like Joy said earlier, he believes that Donald Trump’s effect on aides like Miller, who boast about Trump’s leadership, is now affecting how senior Republican leaders perceive the New York billionaire’s leadership style and job performance. Dionne thinks those who are facing likely challengers from Democrats and Independents in upcoming primaries are bowing down to Trump to take advantage of the president’s base, albeit a “shrinking one.”
Apparently, Trump watched the testy exchange with Stephen Miller and Jake Tapper and had a different impression of the contentious interview. He later tweeted that the White House staffer “destroyed” the CNN host during the segment.
Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018
You can check out the heated exchange between Jake Tapper and Stephen Miller in the video below.
