Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto got angry and ended an interview with 2020 presidential candidate Tim Ryan on Monday after the congressman tried to tie President Trump to the recent mass shootings.
Ryan, who was previously critical of Trump’s response to the shootings, sparred with Cavuto after he blamed Trump for creating an environment ripe for mass shootings.
“Neil, come on. Let’s be honest here. You hear the president. You know what he says. He race-baits. This guy alienates people and tries to separate us based on color. When he uses words like ‘invasion’ and then this kid writes in his manifesto, invasion, when the president spends so much time ‘othering’ people and making them feel not included in the United States or they’re somehow not a part of this country for some reason,” Ryan began.
Cavuto later pushed back, “Your blaming his language on these shootings. That is going an extra mile, don’t you think?”
He also brought up James Hodgkinson, the man who shot four people at a congressional baseball game, who was a supporter of Bernie Sanders. Cavuto pointed out that Sanders was not blamed for the attack, despite Hodgkinson having supported him.
Ryan shot back, “Look, I’m saying [Trump] has created an environment in the United States that is absolutely toxic.”
“What was the environment under Barack Obama when we had shootings? What was the environment under Bill Clinton when we had Columbine? What was the environment under both President Bushes when we had shootings? You pick and choose, I guess, your enemies. You don’t like Donald Trump, right?” Cavuto said.
“I don’t have any interest in politics,” the anchor later said.
“I’m not talking about politics. There’s school shootings. You can’t blame school shootings on —” Ryan said.
“You just blamed them on the president of the United States, congressman. You just blamed the president of the United States,” Cavuto said. “Fair enough, sir. I wish we had more time. I just think you’ve gone one step too far. Enough with the politics, congressman, nobody is interested with the politics. A little more after this.”
