Republican Ron Johnson refuses to condemn alleged Kenosha shooter when pressed by CNN host

Johnson repeatedly refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the Trump fan accused of shooting and killing two people

Published August 31, 2020 4:34AM (EDT)

Ron Johnson                (Reuters/Jason Reed)
Ron Johnson (Reuters/Jason Reed)

This article originally appeared on Raw Story

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In a highly contentious interview on CNN Sunday morning, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) repeatedly refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the Donald Trump fan accused of shooting and killing two Black Lives Matter protestors early this week.

Speaking with "State of the Union" host Dana Bash, Johnson repeatedly spoke over her while manically spouting out prepared comments and ignoring her questions that led the CNN host to finally cut him off.

"The 17-year-old accused of committing those two murders was a Trump supporter," Bash began only to have Johnson interrupt with "It is a tragedy."

"Do you condemn –" she attempted as he spoke over her again and repeated, "It is a tragedy. "

"Do you condemn it?" she persisted.

"t is a tragedy, it is a tragedy," he replied.

"It is a tragedy –but do you condemn it?" Bash pressed.

"Listen, I don't want to see any loss of life. It is a tragedy, and the way you prevent tragedies is you support –," he attempted before Bash cut him off again.

"A tragedy could be a car accident –," the CNN host explained only to have Johnson interupt once more.

"You allow for peaceful protesters, but you don't allow — you don't allow peaceful protests to turn into a siege," he attempted. "Listen, I don't want to see anybody lose their life. I don't want to see the violence continue. I don't want to see businesses burn down. I don't want to see economic destruction. I condemn it all."

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By Tom Boggioni

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Cnn Dana Bash Gop Gun Violence Kenosha Kyle Rittenhouse Republicans Sen. Ron Johnson Wisconsin