CNN host, GOP rep spar over Trump wiretap talk

CNN host Chris Cuomo and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) got into a heated debate Friday over President Trump’s unproven claim former President Obama wiretapped him in 2016.

“Why does this make sense to you?” Cuomo asked Duffy on “New Day.” “The man who can get the answer most quickly is the president of the United States. He has not done so.”

“When [White House press secretary] Sean Spicer comes out so strongly yesterday — you’ve aired that clip many times — and Donald Trump hasn’t walked this comment back, it leads me to believe they may have something,” Duffy responded. “So I don’t want to condemn them yet.”

{mosads}“I’m willing to give them some more time,” he continued. “If you have evidence that you’ve been surveilled, let’s see it so we can put the story behind us.”

Cuomo countered that Trump has rarely abandoned past remarks that critics had found dubious or inaccurate.

“The birther claims weren’t walked back until it was torture for him during the campaign,” he said, citing Trump’s assertion that Obama was born outside the U.S. “But remember how long it took and what it took to do that. That was like a no-brainer, the birther thing. Everyone knew that was garbage from the jump.”

Cuomo added: “We keep coming to you guys to justify these claims because you’re leaders, too. And what we ignore we empower.”

The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday they had seen “no indications” that the Obama administration surveilled Trump Tower in New York City last year, contrary to claims Trump tweeted and since has refused to recant.

The statement from Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) echoed one the day before from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who told reporters “we don’t have any evidence that took place” Wednesday.

Spicer said Thursday that Trump “stands by” his controversial accusation despite no evidence having validated them.