MSNBC reporter Nicolle Wallace cut into a broadcast of a press conference by President Donald Trump on Wednesday to tell viewers that “the president isn’t telling the truth.”
After Trump said he “insists on transparency from Joe Biden and his son Hunter on the millions of dollars that have been quickly and easily taken out of Ukraine and China” and stressed that “millions and millions of dollars” were “taken out very rapidly while he was vice president,” Wallace interrupted the broadcast.
“We hate to do this, really, but the president isn’t telling the truth. These allegations against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden he’s repeating have been investigated by the Ukrainians. None other than The Wall Street Journal included in their report on Friday that the Ukrainians view this issue as having been investigated and adjudicated,” she said. “What’s amazing is that what Trump appears to be trying to do is to turn his own impeachment into a deflection.”
Trump gave the press conference after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in response to the topic of a call they had together in July.
According to a White House summary of the phone call between the two leaders, Trump asked Zelensky to “do us a favor, though” immediately after Zelensky told Trump he was grateful for the military aid the U.S. provided to his country. This request implied that U.S. military aid to Ukraine was at stake if Zelensky did not comply and is the tentpole for the current push from Democrats to impeach the president.
Wallace’s guest, MSNBC justice and security analyst Matthew Miller, also chimed in to emphasize that the impeachment inquiry isn’t about the Bidens or the whistleblower, but rather his conduct. Miller went on to stress that Trump’s claims about the Bidens have been debunked.
“Joe Biden’s son served on the board of a Ukrainian company. That Ukrainian company was investigated by the Ukrainian attorney general. That investigation was closed before Joe Biden ever asked for the attorney general to be fired,” explained Miller.
The move to cut into Trump’s broadcast was met with mixed reviews on Twitter.
Wallace went on to tell viewers to take the press conference “as a marker that Trump has laid down: He will never engage on the facts.”
“What he’s disseminating are lies, attacks and deflection,” she said.