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CNN’s Tapper Shreds Harris Over Framing Of Trump’s Comments On Women

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


CNN anchor Jake Tapper uncharacteristically shredded Vice President Kamala Harris for making a false claim against former President Donald Trump.

It came after the former president said he was going to protect women, whether they “like it or not,” from illegal immigrant criminals.

“It actually is, I think, very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies,” she said to reporters in Madison, Wisconsin, the Washington Post reported.

“There’s a saying that you’ve got to listen to people when they tell you who they are. He does not believe women should have the agency and authority to make decisions about their own bodies,” she added. “This is the same man who said women should be punished for their choices. He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what is in their own best interest and make decisions accordingly.”

The CNN anchor did not approve of the vice president’s interpretation of what the former president said.

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“He was talking about protecting women, protecting women whether they like it or not. Certainly you can take issue with the language, but he wasn’t saying he was going to do whatever he wanted, regardless of… you know,” said Tapper. “You get my point. He’s saying, ‘I’m going to protect women whether they want me to or not.’”

But CNN anchor John Berman presented Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds with the clip as if the former president was saying he would do whatever he wanted to women.

“Play the full clip, play it in its context,” the representative said on CNN’s News Central. “He was talking about the tragedy at our southern border that led to the death of Jocelyn Nungaray. Jocelyn’s mother has come out and endorsed Donald Trump because she fully believed that if Donald Trump was president, her daughter would be alive. And so what he was talking about was, ‘I‘m going to protect women, I‘m going to protect children,’ and then he was just telling a joke. Really, he was just telling them a joke about how some of the staff said, ‘No, don’t say you will protect women because they would take it out of context.’ Obviously, what CNN is doing right now, taking it out of context.”

The representative accused the anchor of using “selective editing.”

“Congressman, Congressman, you just explained the exact right context was with Donald Trump’s story, was telling people how people close to him, okay? His advisers were telling him not to use that type of language and say, ‘I’m going to be your protector.’ And that is the context in that speech,” the anchor said.

“John, you need to stop,” the representative hit back.

“No, no, no, that was what he was doing. And then he said, and then he said, and then he said, “I’m going to protect them, the women, whether they like it or not.” And I’m not the only one asking you about this language. Donald Trump, his advisers clearly knew it was an issue. And Nikki Haley has been talking about the language that Donald Trump,” the anchor said.

“John, you need to stop!” the representative said.

The anchor then played a clip from a Fox News interview of former Ambassador Nikki Haley in which she said the former president’s campaign was engaged in a “bromance” and needed to reach more women voters, which did not have anything to do with the former president said about protecting women.

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“So, you’re telling me there’s no concern from Nikki Haley or clearly, as Donald Trump said from people close to him, his campaign, about the type of language he’s using?” the anchor said.

“John, listen, I love the selective editing this morning. You guys are conflating two very separate things,” Donalds replied.

“Let’s get to the core of the message that you played at the beginning. Donald Trump was talking about protecting women and children in our country from the ravages of illegal immigration,” he said.

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