President Donald Trump trolled CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Friday by tweeting a video that mocked Cuomo’s stunt yesterday where he called his mother on live television in an attempt to disprove something that Trump said.
“I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great,” Trump tweeted yesterday. “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!”
Trump’s tweet came in response to State Department employee David Holmes claiming that he overheard Trump talking to U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland while Holmes was seated across the table from Sondland.
Cuomo proceeded to call his mother immediately after Trump tweeted the challenge in an attempt to discredit what Trump claimed. The stunt backfired.
Trump responded to Cuomo’s stunt by mocking him with a video on Friday evening.
WATCH:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2019
“We have an interesting theory from our president, that he has really good hearing, some would say the best hearing ever, ” Cuomo said yesterday as he played out his stunt. “And 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.”
Cuomo proceeded to put his co-worker, Dana Bash, in the spotlight by asking her if she could hear his mother talk on the phone.
“Mom, can you hear me? Can you just say hello? Mom?” Cuomo said. “She probably can’t hear me. Mom, can you hear me? Say hello to Dana Bash.”
Reporter Justin Baragona tweeted out the video, writing: “Because we are in the absolute dumbest timeline, Chris Cuomo calls his mom on live TV to disprove Trump’s claim and demonstrate to viewers that bystanders can hear a caller on the other line…and we only hear his mother when he puts her on speaker.”
WATCH:
Because we are in the absolute dumbest timeline, Chris Cuomo calls his mom on live TV to disprove Trump’s claim and demonstrate to viewers that bystanders can hear a caller on the other line…and we only hear his mother when he puts her on speaker. pic.twitter.com/Bif8QsmPHb
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 21, 2019
In his testimony this in front of the House Intelligence Committee, Holmes claimed that he overheard the phone call while in a restaurant.
“Although Ambassador Sondland’s phone was not on speakerphone, I could hear the president’s voice through the earpiece of the phone,” Holmes said. “I heard President Trump then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine, and went on to state that President Zelensky ‘loves your ass.’ I then heard President Trump ask, ‘So, he’s gonna do the investigation?’ Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘he’s gonna do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will do ‘anything you ask him to.’”
Democrats allege that Trump engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine during his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky despite multiple witnesses having testified this week that there was no quid pro quo, including Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Senior NSC official Tim Morrison, Ambassador Kurt Volker, and Ambassador Gordon Sondland.