CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin explodes on co-host Joe Kernen: '100,000 people died and all you did was try and help your friend the president'
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
The co-hosts of CNBC's Squawk Box definitely had their coffee this morning.
On Wednesday's episode of the business news program, co-hosts Andrew Ross Sorkin and Joe Kernen went head to head over their longstanding perspectives on COVID-19's economic effects. Tensions ran hot as Kernen tried to spin the economy's status in a positive light, and the spat eventually peaked as Sorkin accused Kernen of ignoring the coronavirus' death toll to "try and help your friend the president."
Kernen and Sorkin's spat began as they discussed a market rally and what it meant for upcoming financial quarters. "Joe, you missed 100 percent on the way down and you missed 100,000 deaths," Sorkin declared. "Every morning, you try to question the questions that I'm asking," Sorkin continued, saying that being "right or wrong" on the markets "doesn't make people a good person or a bad person, and it doesn't make right to act the way you are."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Things calmed down for a split second before Kernen got his take in: "You panicked about the market, panicked about COVID, panicked about the ventilators," trailing on until Sorkin jumped in. "Joseph, you didn't panic about anything. A hundred thousand people died and all you did was try to help your friend the president," Sorkin decisively finished. Watch the dust-up below. Kathryn Krawczyk
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
