CNN Anchor Bombards Trump Ally In Brawl Over ‘Shoot Through’ Media Rant: ‘It’s Not Creating Outrage!’

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan hounded Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) over ex-President Donald Trump’s crack about a would-be assassin having to “shoot through” the media, but Schmitt refused to even address the comment.

With only hours to go before Election Day, the dominant storyline is the bombshell Des Moines Register poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Trump in Iowa,  but Trump’s rally antics are never far from the headlines.

For example, Trump told an approving crowd at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania that “to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”

On Monday’s edition of CNN News Central, Bolduan repeatedly tried to get Schmitt to weigh in on the propriety of that message, but Schmitt deflected and rattled off strings of attacks and falsehoods instead:

KATE BOLDUAN: And, Senator, are you okay with that aspect of the messaging in this in these final days?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Well, I just think it’s it’s interesting that the focus you guys every day you try to create some sort of faux outrage. And I understand why because Kamala Harris is — has called President Trump a fascist. Joe Biden has called half of America garbage and they have nothing to run on.

And so every day we find something, you guys try to blow up into something that, quite frankly, no one takes, literally. I can’t believe you spend this much time on it on the air.

But I know why. Because President Trump has the momentum in this race. It’s a change election cycle. President Trump, by a 2 to 1 margin, is viewed as the change candidate. That’s a hard reality for some people to accept. But that’s what people are focused on, not these clips that you seem to hear every day.

KATE BOLDUAN: Well, this is but I haven’t aired this every day because this is a new something he just said yesterday. But you you don’t you don’t– you think he was joking? That’s what you that’s what you think on that?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: I mean, what do you think? Actually–

KATE BOLDUAN: Know. I will tell you what, Scott Jennings, really long time. One second. Senator Scott Jennings, a long time Republican, was just sitting right next to me and he says he is not happy with he does not want to hear that rhetoric. He does not like that rhetoric. And he doesn’t want to hear the former president say that because so many people–.

Donald Trump is– was the was the target of two attempted assassinations. If anyone should understand that words matter, Donald Trump should, especially when it comes to heated rhetoric. And so that’s why I’m just (CROSSTALK), regardless, regardless of whether you–.

If we talked about what the priority and the the messaging priority for the campaign is, the economy, as we just discussed, as part of a message that the former president is putting out there. I’m just asking you if you are are you okay with him saying that? Would you like him to continue to repeat that today as part of his final message?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: It’s really interesting. So President Trump, he’s had two attempts on his life, and you don’t really talk about that anymore. And if it were Kamala Harris–.

KATE BOLDUAN: We talked about it all the time!

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: NBC Nightly News will be camped out in Butler. But it’s not convenient to humanize President Trump. I spent a lot of time with him this weekend. His message is very clear. Kamala Harris broke it. He’s going to fix it. So, again, you can pull up all the clips and this has been a for over four years or eight years now. The idea to try to marginalize him and his supporters has been ongoing.

But I’m telling you what has happened. And by the way, to try to throw him in jail for the rest of his life and to censor Americans, that is the record of the Democrats in this cycle that they’re running away from.

And so the American people have had enough. They want peace and prosperity around the world. They want a secure border and they want an economy that works for them. That is what people are going to vote on. So, again, every time you try to pull up a clip like this to create outrage, people see through it. Now. They really do.

KATE BOLDUAN: It’s not creating outrage! It’s just asking you if you agree with it. That’s all I’m asking.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Yeah, I think what this election. Of course not! I mean. I mean, this is insane. Like you continue to try to get–.

KATE BOLDUAN: No!

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: President Trump is.

KATE BOLDUAN: It’s a simple question that–.

Is real people. So, again, you’re going to do this for another 24 hours and the American people are going to have a say here, which is they want a better life for their family. That’s what this election’s about, not sort of your news of the day to try to create outrage.

KATE BOLDUAN: And people also want safety and security, which could also include journalists.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Yeah, well, guess what? People aren’t safe in their own communities.

Watch above via CNN News Central.