CNN’s Tapper, Youngkin spar over Trump’s military remarks

CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) got into a heated exchange Monday over recent comments former President Trump made about the U.S. military.

Trump suggested Sunday during an appearance on Fox News that the National Guard or military should be employed on Election Day to fight against possible disorder from “the enemy from within,” which he said includes “radical-left lunatics”

In an interview Monday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Tapper asked Youngkin if he agreed with the former president.

“Is that something that you support?” the CNN host asked the governor.

Youngkin responded by pointing to issues on the border: “What former President Trump is talking about are the people that are coming over the border, that, in fact, are committing crimes, that are bringing drugs, that are trafficking humans, and that are turning every state into a border state.”

He noted that while he is not a border-state governor, he has still seen “the impacts of 10 million people illegally coming across the border every single day.”

“Five Virginians die on average from fentanyl overdose,” Youngkin said. “We have folks that have crashed the — illegal immigrants — that have crashed the front gate at Quantico in a box truck, trying to gain access to Quantico, and we’ve had Virginians who have been subjected to sexual assault by Venezuelan gang members. So, to say that this isn’t happening, Jake, is just not fair to —”

Tapper cut in, saying, “I’m not saying that at all.”

“Obviously, there is a border crisis. Obviously, there are too many criminals who should not be in this country, and they should be jailed and deported completely,” he continued. “But that’s not what I’m talking about … he was talking about sick people, radical-left lunatics who should be handled by the National Guard or the military.”

“And then, later on in that same speech, he said that one of the lunatics he addressed was Congressman Adam Schiff,” Tapper added. “That’s who he was talking about using the National Guard and military against, radical-left lunatics, enemy from within, people like Adam Schiff.”

In response, the Virginia leader said he “can’t speak” for Trump. Instead, Youngkin said, he believes the CNN anchor misinterpreted the former president’s rhetoric and was “misrepresenting his thoughts.”

The exchange came as Trump has ramped up the intensity of his rhetoric in the final weeks of the White House race against Vice President Harris. He has referred to his domestic rivals as “scum,” warned of migrants “conquering” American communities and suggested that he could use the military to quell protests.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Harris’s running mate, also slammed the former president for his comments Sunday.

“He crossed a line that, I have to tell you, in my lifetime, I would have never imagined because we know our history,” Walz said Monday. “To Donald Trump, anybody who doesn’t agree with him is the enemy.” 

The Hill has reached out to Youngkin’s office and the Trump campaign for comment.