Conservative Host Ends On-Air Interview After Guest Brings Up Jan. 6
On Balance host Leland Vittert brought on Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan on Monday to discuss Trump's plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops in D.C, and the two promptly squabbled about the district's crime rates. But Vittert snapped once Hasan brought up how Trump had only just begun caring about crime in the district.
'This is about Trump wanting to do a power grab,' Hasan said. 'This is about Trump's obsession with the military.'
'No, come on!' Vittert responded.
'You think it's because Trump cares about crime in D.C.? Really?' Hasan said. 'Because I remember Donald Trump on January the 6th, 2021, not giving a c--p about crime in D.C.'
The two then bickered about the merits of bringing up the attack on the Capitol, which saw hundreds of Trump supporters vandalize the building and injure dozens of police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide afterward.
Trump issued pardons and commutations to the rioters once he began his second term.
Still, Vittert did not want to discuss the Capitol riot, claiming it had nothing to do with D.C.'s current crime rate. 'You can't have an argument about what's happening on the streets of D.C. without going back to Jan. 6,' he told Hasan.
'I said to you Donald Trump doesn't care about crime in D.C. You said yes, he does,' Hasan said. 'And I said I'm gonna give you evidence to prove he doesn't. If he cared about crime in D. C., why did he pardon 600 people who assaulted police officers?'
Vittert continued to dismiss Hasan's references to Jan. 6 and shot down Hasan's attempts to continue the conversation, eventually ending the interview early.
'You cannot talk about this without talking about January 6 or anything else,' he said. 'You won't have an argument on the merits. Mehdi, thank you as always.'
Hasan later highlighted the exchange on X on Monday night, claiming Vittert 'lost it' when he brought up Jan. 6. Hasan is a former MSNBC host, while Vittert is a Fox News alum.
'In discussing crime in DC, the conservative host on NewsNation, Leland Vittert, lost it when I brought up January 6th and Trump's failure to prevent violent crimes that day, and his refusal to send in the National Guard that day,' he wrote. 'He cut me off and then ended the interview!'
A NewsNation spokesperson did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
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