On Monday night, President Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn; on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn had to go because he'd lost the trust of Trump. On Wednesday, Trump blamed the "fake news media" and its "conspiracy theories" for Flynn's ouster, plus leaks from the intelligence agencies. On CNN Wednesday evening, Jake Tapper ran through the timeline, then got a little bit sassy.
"Of course these stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and elsewhere are not conspiracy theories," he said. "These are news stories, sourced by government officials. Conspiracy theories are different — they're false, they're crackpot, they're nonsense. How do I illustrate what a conspiracy theory is? How about this one, about Ted Cruz's father?" He played clips of Trump talking about that JFK assassination canard and Trump's "birther" nonsense, then turned to Trump's railing against leaks.
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