‘No He Didn’t!’ CNN’s Jim Acosta Throws Down With Ex-Trump Aide Over Hegseth Not ‘Blasting’ Rioters

CNN anchor Jim Acosta and David Urban, a former Trump aide-turned-CNN analyst, threw down over whether Fox News host Pete Hegseth sufficiently condemned the January 6 rioters at the time of the attack on Wednesday.

Hegseth is the host of Fox & Friends Weekend and President-elect Donald Trump’s newly-announced pick to lead the Department of Defense, which has prompted renewed scrutiny of his past comments.

On Wednesday’s edition of CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta, Acosta played some of those comments — taken from Hegseth’s reporting on January 7, 2021 — and argued with Urban’s insistence that Hegseth did denounce the rioters:

JIM ACOSTA: Yeah. And I do also want to say, you know, Pete Hegseth, when he was at Fox, was praising some of the stop the steel protesters on January 6th. And I want to play some of that and get your reaction, David.

PETE HEGSETH: Reporting for Fox and Friends yesterday morning on the ground. I said a couple of times, you know, this feels like a constitutional tinderbox. It had that feel to it. But it wasn’t because Donald Trump gave a speech and then told people to do something at the Capitol. That’s not what happened.

This is the result of of of of a, you know, a frustration that a lot of people feel that I frankly wasn’t surprised. I’m not saying it’s okay. I’m not saying all those things, but the images didn’t shock me.

JIM ACOSTA: David. I mean, you know, I’m just wondering what your reaction to that is. I mean, shouldn’t you shouldn’t the future defense secretary blast those rioters for the violence–.

DAVID URBAN: (overtalking) He said– he said– he said it’s not– He did!

JIM ACOSTA: –That you saw, the violence that we saw that day? No, he didn’t!

DAVID URBAN: No, he did. He is Jim, he just said, listen, you want to roll the tape again? He said “It’s not okay. I’m not saying it’s okay. I’m not saying it’s all right.”.

Listen, I condemn that those those images you showed? Anybody that assaults a police officer should go to jail. Anybody who breaks the law like that, anyone who’s who is assaulting a police officer should be punished. Okay?

There should be no– I have no I have no you know, I have no sympathy for any of that.

Now, flip to the other side of the Capitol and you know this, Jim. We– you watch the tapes. You’re a smart guy on the other side of the Capitol, on the Supreme Court side of the Capitol. There was a war waging on one side of the Capitol, which I applaud the Capitol Police for their restraint and their heroism in that, because.

JIM ACOSTA: It sounds to me.

DAVID URBAN: Jim hold on–.

(CROSSTALK)

JIM ACOSTA: It does sound as though he is he is excusing it to a large extent, and perhaps he’ll be asked about it during his confirmation hearings–.

DAVID URBAN: He was Jim. He was condemn–. Jim he condemned it. He’ll be asked.

JIM ACOSTA: Alright we’ll stay tuned for that. We’ll be right back.

Watch above via CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta.