Tapper yanks the rug out from GOP lawmaker in painful live shakedown

CNN anchor Jake Tapper cut through packaged talking points spouted by U.S. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) in a brutal Thursday interview.

Tapper began the discussion with a request for Flood’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s dismal poll numbers and the apparent affect his unpopularity was having on individual GOP races up and down the ballot.

To this, Flood launched into the passage of the Housing Affordability law, which he claimed increased building and construction hiring in his state. Flood was slipping into claims that his Nebraskan steel mill “couldn't be busier” when Tapper cut him off with a fact check.

“Well, I mean, polls indicate that … voters overwhelmingly do not agree with your assessment of the economy. And I will note that that Housing Bill that you helped write to help people afford homes, President Trump didn't sign it. It became law without his signature,” Tapper said, momentarily throwing the lawmaker.

Trump had instead taken the bill hostage in an effort to muscle Congress into passing his doomed legislative obsession, the SAVE America Act, which would not pass without several painful rules changes in the Senate.

“Sometimes I look at what he's doing in terms of how much he's talking about construction projects and the war, and not talking about the issues that you're talking about. No tax on tips, et cetera. And I think it's almost as if he's trying to lose the midterms for Republicans,” Tapper added.

“Well, listen, I can I can only control myself,” said Flood, before ticking off a MAGA checklist of complains including accusations of democrats “registering their dog’ to vote.

From there, Tapper held Flood to task on the nation hitting a penultimate $40 trillion in debt this week under Republicans.

“President Trump has been, um, the president for about 25 percent of this $40 trillion,” Tapper pressed. “Republicans controlled the White House, the House, the Senate. The country is on track to hit the debt limit that Republicans raised last summer by 2027. Why isn't your party more focused on what's clearly going to be a catastrophe for our children's futures and, frankly, for generations to come? I'm sure I don't need to tell you how much of our federal budget goes to just pay down the interest of the debt.”

But despite those facts, Flood blamed Democrats.

“Frankly, we're the only party concerned about that,” Flood insisted. “Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and all the Democrats went wild during Covid. They went wild with the spending. … If we’re gonna get a lecture from Democrats it should start with ‘where are we going to cut.’”

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