White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed CNN for airing an interview with a Mexican cartel member this week.
Speaking to Fox News Channel anchor Sean Hannity on Monday night, Leavitt ripped CNN for traveling south of the border to get the perspective of a member of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican drug cartel that was designated as a terrorist group at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“I thought it was quite despicable, but again, this is just another reason why the trust in the legacy media is at an all-time low amongst the American public,” Leavitt said.
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The government official also accused CNN of giving a “softball interview” to the gang member.
“Well, it was fascinating to me, Sean. I was scrolling on Instagram when I came across this interview,” she said. “And it stopped me in my tracks, not just because they sat down with a member of a Mexican cartel that is now designated as a foreign terror organization by the United States government, but because of the nature of the questions of this notorious foreign terrorist.”
“It was a softball interview giving a platform to a notorious drug cartel that has killed American citizens,” Leavitt added.
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CNN published the interview on May 2, which was a conversation between network correspondent Isobel Yeung and a Sinaloa Cartel member who produces Fentanyl in Sinaloa, Mexico. The outlet disclosed that the cartel member only agreed to meet if CNN kept his identity and location hidden.
In a clip of the conversation posted on CNN.com, Yeung asked the masked and sunglasses-clad individual what he thought of Trump designating his cartel a terror group. In Spanish, he replied, “Well, the situation is ugly. But we have to eat.”
She then asked him for his message to the U.S. president, to which he said, “My respect. According to him, he’s looking out for his people, but the problem is that the consumers are [in the United States.]”
“If there aren’t any consumers, we would stop,” he declared.
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Yeung followed by asking him if he had any remorse for contributing to the violence and fear that the cartel fueled in the local community.
The anonymous gang member admitted to feeling sorry about the way things were, stating, “Of course. Things are sad, but well, things are sad.”
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