CNN anchor confronts GOP chairman over senator’s vote to condemn Trump

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CNN host John Berman on Tuesday accused North Carolina Republican Party chairman of Sen. Richard BurrRichard Mauze Burr North Carolina Republican Party Votes To Convict Burr For Convicting Trump Maine GOP To Consider Convicting Collins Over Vote To Convict Trump Iowa Republican Announces Senate Bid With Grassley’s 2022 Plans Unclear MORE (RN.C.) about his vote to condemn the former President TrumpDonald TrumpMichigan Democrat Dingell On Violent Rhetoric: ‘I’ve Had Men With Assault Weapons In Front Of My House’ McConnell Won’t Rule Out Getting Involved in Republican Primaries 75 percent of Republicans want Trump to feature prominently in GOP: poll MORE for inciting a crowd to attack the Capitol.

“We hear a lot from people in the Republican Party about canceling culture,” Berman told North Carolina Republican Chairman Michael Whatley on Tuesday in an interview on New Day. “You know, you’re canceling Richard Burr because of his impeachment vote, which he says was a conscious vote.”

The North Carolina GOP has condemned Burr over his vote. Burr was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to condemn Trump.

Whatley rejected Berman’s claim, saying that the “cancel culture” that conservatives often disapprove of because it relates to their alleged Trump censorship and other controversial Republican ideology is “totally different” from the party’s decision to disapprove Burr.

Burr will retire at the end of this election cycle.

His vote to condemn Trump was somewhat of a surprise, given that he had twice voted with other Republicans to find the former president’s impeachment trial unconstitutional.

Burr said he believed that by voting it was constitutional, the Senate had set a precedent for the trial, and that the evidence presented strongly argued in favor of Trump’s conviction.

“The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of mounting an uprising against an equal branch of the administration and that charges are rising to the level of high crimes and felonies,” Burr said of his vote.

Hours later, the Republican state party voted to disapprove of Burr and issue a formal condemnation of his decision.

Tonight, the Central Committee of the Republican Party of North Carolina (NCGOP) voted unanimously to denounce Senator Richard Burr for his vote to condemn former President Trump in the impeachment process he declared unconstitutional, “it said.

Burr called the vote a “sad day for North Carolina Republicans.”

In the CNN interview, Berman told Whatley, “You are canceling him because of that vote.”

“We’re not canceling anything,” Whatley replied. “We say we disagree with a particular vote.”

Several other republican state parties have voted to condemn other GOP senators who voted with the Democrats and against Trump.

The former president narrowly won the Tar Heel state in the 2020 election and the other Republican state senator, Thom Tillis, was reelected. Tillis voted to acquit Trump.

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