You have taken the words of unnamed FBI agents

GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance spoke with CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday about former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and comments from some of Trump’s former top aides who labeled him a “fascist.”

Tapper opened the “State of the Union” segment by pressing Vance about Trump’s comments about an “enemy from within” and retired Gen. John Kelly’s statement that Trump fits the “common definition of fascist.”

Vance, 40, dismissed Trump critics such as Kelly and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as proponents of war, prompting Tapper, 55, to further question Trump’s statements about attacking dishonest election officials.

An irritated Vance responded, “You’re taking words out of context. If you wanted to post a video and actually put it into context, I think the American people would realize that Donald Trump is a lot more reasonable than people like Liz Cheney, who would like to lie to us into war. .”

“Now, Jake, we also have to remember, I mean, take a step back. Ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You were talking non-stop about the Russian hoax.’

Tapper defended CNN’s reporting, saying, “The FBI was investigating it, so we reported on it.”

Republicans have long been frustrated by media coverage of allegations of Trump’s alleged connections to Russia. They claim the issue has been overemphasized and fueled public misconceptions.

“You took the words of unnamed FBI agents and posted them on your network as if they were gospel truth. You did it over and over again,” Vance countered.

“A viewer of your network would have believed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conspired in 2016. That was completely and ridiculously untrue,” he said.

Tapper claimed that Vance’s portrayal of CNN’s reporting was “false” and reiterated that the network was simply reporting on an FBI investigation.

Vance argued, “You discussed it in a way that gave credibility to anonymous sources (and) accusations. You did it yourself. Your network did it, Jake.”

The two then returned to their heated exchange about Trump’s rhetoric and the warnings some former Trump administration officials had given to the public.