Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser on former President Trump’s campaign, and CNN anchor Jim Acosta engaged in a tense exchange on air Wednesday that resulted in shouting and at one point the anchor saying “you won’t admit the truth.”
Lewandowski joined Acosta following the vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
During the debate, Walz pressed Vance on whether he could admit former President Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance dodged the question and said he is “focused on the future.” Walz turned to the camera and said “that is a damning nonanswer.”
Acosta asked Lewandowski why it is “so difficult for the Trump campaign” to answer the question if Trump lost the race four years ago.
“Jim, I think it’s very simple. The American people have passed the 2020 election. They’re focused on an election which is just under five weeks away,” Lewandowski responded. “And what we have now, we have an opportunity to do now is to talk about two different visions for America, and what JD Vance laid out last night is a very different vision than what Tim Walz and Kamala Harris want to say.”
Lewandowski continued, saying the country can go “back and relitigate” the 2020 election or can look forward. Acosta jumped in to say “it’s not relitigating. … It’s just a simple question: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
“Jim, why are we talking about 2020 anymore? Do the American people care about the 2020 election? Or do they care about being able to put food on their table?” Lewandowski said.
Acosta said he thinks the 2020 election continues coming up in this election cycle because Trump has repeated the claim that there was fraud in 2020 and is “teeing up” the same kind of challenges in case he loses this election. The two argued over claims of election fraud in the 2020 cycle, and Acosta pushed back on the idea that there was widespread fraud.
“Why aren’t you focusing on 2024? I guess that’s my question,” Lewandowski said.
“Will Donald Trump honor the results of the 2024 election? Will he do that?” Acosta pressed.
Lewandowski dodged the question and posed another to Acosta: “Did Hillary Clinton honor the results? Did Democrats honor the results?”
The two spoke over one another for some time, with Lewandowski wanting to skip over “the hypotheticals” and focus on policy, and Acosta arguing that “it’s a simple question.”
The two also argued over the fallout in Springfield, Ohio, after Vance and Trump spread false claims that migrants were eating people’s pets.
Acosta asked Lewandowski to confirm that Haitian migrants aren’t eating cats and dogs.
Lewandowski listed off statistics about immigrants and did not answer the question.
Lewandowski continually mispronounced Vice President Harris’s first name, and Acosta attempted to correct him multiple times.
“What is this Kamala? It’s Kam-a-la Harris. Corey, you’ve been in this business a long time, I think you’re a mature grown-up, it’s Kam-a-la Harris. Can you just say Kamala? What’s going on there?” Acosta asked.
The two continued to argue on air before Acosta shut down the interview.