Jake Tapper rips Trump for 'lies': 'We want presidents to tell the truth'

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February 15, 2017 4:52 PM

CNN host Jake Tapper discussed the "chaos" of President Donald Trump's White House on Tuesday's "Conan."

CNN's Jake Tapper, left, and host Conan O'Brien on TBS's "Conan."

CNN host Jake Tapper had a scathing review of President Donald Trump and his staff over the early weeks of their administration on TBS's "Conan."

"The president seems to thrive on chaos," Tapper told host Conan O' Brien on Tuesday's episode. "It was like that during the campaign. That obviously worked. And it’s like that now. He seems to like different competing groups of power competing against each other... Obviously,’The Apprentice’ was like that as well."

The "Conan" appearance follows a string of controversial measures by the president, including a travel ban that

"I think we can all agree that we’re not used to this level of confusion and chaos and different messages coming from the White House, from the president," Tapper said. "I like news. This is exhausting, though."

Tapper recently went head-to-head with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway after Trump made the false statement that the murder rate is the highest it has been in more than four decades and asserted that the media doesn't cover acts of terrorism.

"Facts and truths are not partisan," Tapper said. "Republicans and Democrats and independents, there are just empirical facts. And we want presidents to tell the truth."

He then added, "There’s just empirical lies that the president was telling."

In Conway's skillful way, she conceded that Trump has made false statements, but countered that the media doesn't pay attention to his true statements.

"First of all, I’ve never heard anyone in the administration admit that he had been saying all these things that aren’t true... Yes, she had conceded it," Tapper said. "But also, it’s such a bizarre formulation. What about all the lies that Nixon didn’t tell? What? What are you talking about?"

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