NewsNation Cuts Interview After Guest Calls Out Trump’s Hypocrisy On Live TV

Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan appeared Monday on NewsNation to discuss President Donald Trump’s police takeover of Washington, D.C. — only to be booted from the interview after using Trump’s past to slam the decision as hypocritical.

Trump has pardoned hundreds of violent insurrectionists who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, but claimed Monday that concerns about crime had motivated his deployment of National Guard troops to keep D.C. “safe.”

The president lied that crime is skyrocketing in the city, despite the district’s own police force confirming in a year-to-date comparison that all violent crime is down by 26%.

Hasan joined “On Balance with Leland Vittert” to note as much.

“These are FBI statistics, as well as city statistics, as well as every stat out there,” said Hasan. “It’s at a 30-year low, violent crime in Washington, D.C., it’s down … 26% this year. Leland, you know who bragged that crime is down in D.C. by 26% in April of this year?”

Vittert begrudgingly guessed: “I’m sure you’re going to say Trump did, but I have no idea.”

Hasan confirmed this — the Trump administration, via former interim U.S. Attorney Edward Martin, stated in April that Trump’s “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative had resulted in a 25% drop in violent crime.

Vittert interrupted the point by boldly arguing “it doesn’t matter” if violent crime is “up or down” in Washington because crime “still happens” there.

“Did you know that the Trump administration just cut $20 million in security funding to D.C.?” Hasan asked. “Which is weird because, apparently, crime is out of control. When you say it doesn’t matter whether it’s up or down, it does. Some of us believe in truth and facts.”

Things got truly heated after Hasan characterized the federal takeover of the capital as a “power grab.”

He asked Vittert point-blank if the conservative host actually believes that Trump mobilized federal troops in the city because he “cares about crime,” and noted: “Because I remember Donald Trump on January the 6th, 2021, not giving a crap about crime in D.C.”

“Mehdi! Oh, come on!” Vittert complained. “Noun, verb, January 6. Mehdi? No, Mehdi, come on!”

Hasan attempted to finish his point as Vittert sought to drown him out, but managed to remind viewers that Trump supporters attacked police officers that day — injuring more than 140 of them — only to be pardoned by the president.

“You cannot talk about this, this is completely different things going on,” Vittert protested.

Hasan went on to probe this hypocrisy further, however, and asked where the National Guard was on Jan. 6 if Trump cared so much about crime. Vittert decried the point as “absolutely silly” before ending the interview.

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