MSNBC host Ari Melber imploded during Wednesday’s broadcast after Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski used his previous statements against him.
During Melber’s show “The Beat,” the host accused Lewandowski of lying about past controversies related to former President Donald Trump.
However, Lewandowski fired back by repeating what the host had said on his show on July 16, quoting an article from The New York Times that said that Trump was the RNC’s “biggest prop.”
“On the first night of the 2024 convention, Mr Trump was his own biggest prop. (He) entered the V.I.P. box … with a large white bandage on his injured right ear,” the article read.
“That’s fair. A placard for delegates to fill in, an image for political mobilization, a spectacle, for this candidate who we know is by his own admission obsessed with assorted spectacles,” Melber said at the time, reacting to The Times article.
But Melber denied the accusation that he had said that despite being transcripted.
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“I quoted a New York Times article that said Donald Trump was his own biggest prop. Fox News, many viewers may not know about this, Fox News ran a false piece, falsely stating that I said something else that I didn’t say,” the host said in defense.
“So you didn’t say, ‘this bandage was a spectacle from a candidate who is obsessed with spectacles?'” asked Lewandowski, challenging Melber’s statement.
“I did not say that. I did not say that, that is a false quote. What you have is a false quote,” Melber replied.
The MSNBC then threatened to take legal action against Lewandowski.
“I am putting you on notice – if you continue to repeat falsely that I said that, you will be potentially in a defamation situation because I didn’t say that,” he said.
“I understand you are working off the internet which is a lot of false information.”
As Lewandoski pointed out, he had proof of his making the statement, and Melber concluded by thanking him for appearing on the show.
Lewandowski shared a clip of the altercation on X, along with proof that Melber had indeed said the statement in question.
“An MSNBC Host threatened to sue me for defamation tonight for (by definition) the opposition of defamation >> Quoting their own words. Watch for yourself and let me know what you think,” he wrote.
Lewandowski will be joining Trump’s 2024 campaign.
