Michael Anton, a former National Security Council principal spokesman for the Trump administration, claims CNN fabricated his reason for canceling an appearance on their show, “Erin Burnett OutFront.” (RELATED: Trump’s Top National Security Spokesman To Resign).
Burnett claims that Anton simply couldn’t bring himself to defend President Trump after he made controversial statements at a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump criticized the U.S. intelligence community – a group that warrants criticism dating back to pre-9/11 days – and sided with Putin in saying he was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial” of Russia’s election meddling.
This has enraged the left, leading to calls of treason, impeachment, and even one Democrat congressman who suggested a military coup to overthrow the President. (RELATED: House Democrat Calls For ‘Military Folks’ To Stop Trump).
Burnett invited Anton on her show and in multiple instances claimed the reason he wouldn’t show is “because he said he could not defend the president on his actions today.”
“Michael Anton was going to be here … he canceled, and he knows I’m going to tell you this, because he said he could not defend the president on his actions today.” – Erin Burnett explains the absence of Trump’s fmr. National Security Council spokesman https://t.co/VYnxxVD4Je pic.twitter.com/nveQk3mvTy
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) July 16, 2018
Michael Anton, Former Trump NSC spox, cancelled his appearance on Outfront tonight because he couldn’t defend @realDonaldTrump today.
— Erin Burnett (@ErinBurnett) July 16, 2018
Anton has since issued a statement saying Burnett’s claims are nothing more than ‘fake news.’
He claims that he refused to appear on any CNN show because their coverage of the Trump-Putin meeting had been nothing short of “atrocious and histrionic.”
“I did cancel, because I knew that whatever I said, CNN would try to use me as a cudgel with which to bash the President,” Anton explained. “I support President Trump and I never want to be misused as an instrument to undermine him or his administration.”
Even worse, the former Trump spokesman said the network threatened to use his refusal to appear to blast the President on air. In other words, they took the fact that he canceled his appearance and completely drew their own conclusion as to why. They then reported that as fact!
Statement correcting the record from former NSC Comms Director Michael Anton re CNN. Cc @ErinBurnett pic.twitter.com/ghcimn9T8S
— David Reaboi (@davereaboi) July 17, 2018
Burnett has yet to comment on Anton’s claims, but the “Out Front” Twitter feed ever-so-slightly changed their reporting by saying that a rep had made the comments.
“We had Michael Anton, former Trump NSC spokesman, pre-booked and confirmed for a week,” they claimed. “His rep then canceled him late afternoon today explaining that Mr. Anton could not defend the President on his press conference with Putin. No threats were ever made.”
Former Trump NSC staffer Michael Anton says CNN’s @ErinBurnett deliberately pushed fake news after he told CNN he wouldn’t play their games tonight. https://t.co/pKbAeisGYq
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 17, 2018
Who is telling the truth – a supporter of President Trump and a former administration official, or a hard-on-her luck, ratings-desperate anchor at CNN? You decide.
Given CNN’s long history of peddling fake Trump stories, I wouldn’t be surprised if the network invented this narrative to further criticize the president.
