During a live broadcast on CNN, host Chris Cuomo made an attempt to embarrass President Donald Trump and disprove a claim he made about a phone call that is now the center of the impeachment inquiry, but instead, the host mistakenly validated that the president is actually correct.
The call in question was between the president and EU ambassador Gordon Sondland, and took place on July 26 while Sondland, Holmes, and other staff members of the embassy were having lunch at a restaurant in Ukraine.
David Holmes, a political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, testified that he could hear both sides of the phone call – what Sondland was saying into the phone, and what Trump was saying over the phone. Even though the call not using the speakerphone feature, Holmes testified that he could still hear what Trump was saying because he was speaking so loudly that he could hear him asking Sondland about “investigations” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed to.
In response to his remarks, the president posted on his social media account that it would not be possible for Holmes to hear what he was saying to Sondland if the call was not on speakerphone.
“I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life,” Trump wrote. “My hearing is, and has been, great. Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!”
“Very interesting theory from our president,” Cuomo said, mocking the leader. “He’s never been able to hear a phone call when it wasn’t on speakerphone — from anybody. So let’s just play with that for a second.”
So, he decided to prove that a person can indeed hear a conversation on another person’s cell phone without being it on speakerphone – and he was going to prove it on live TV.
To do that, Cuomo called his mother live on air Thursday to see whether she could be heard by others while she was not on speakerphone. When his mother called, he attempted to have Dana Bash see if she could overhear the conversation they were having. As both Cuomo and Bash struggled to hear his mother, Cuomo had to turn on speakerphone to verify she was indeed still on the line.
“Can you just say hello? Mom? She probably can’t hear me. Mom, can you hear me? Mom? Say hello to Dana Bash,” Cuomo said. As it turned out, his mom couldn’t be heard by him or the co-host, making President Trump’s statement absolutely correct, embarrassing the sarcastic news anchor on national TV.
Finally, some real news on CNN.
