Sirius XM host Howard Stern on Monday blasted CNN for reporting that he “confirmed” Donald Trump had backed the Iraq War in 2002.

CNN.com ran a story last week that declared, “Howard Stern Says Trump Backed Iraq War In 2002,” and reported that the radio shock jock “confirmed” that Mr. Trump was “kinda for the Iraq War” during his interview on the show in 2002. But Mr. Stern said he didn’t “confirm” anything and can’t understand “how CNN came up with that headline.”

“I got so upset because, you know, let’s face it, tapes from our show featuring Donald Trump have been used in the campaign,” Mr. Stern said Monday, according to a transcript obtained by The Daily Caller. “And the other day I was talking to Robin [Quivers] on the air, and I said to her, yeah, you know it was really surreal sorta laying there in bed and watching them mention my name on the debate. And I said, basically for people who might not be aware, I said, yeah, Trump was on our show, and he was talking — I asked him about the Iraq war, and he said that he was for it.

“So, then there was a big screaming headline on CNN: ‘Howard Stern Now Confirms,’” Mr. Stern lamented. “There’s a picture of me and Trump in an adversarial-type situation that —”

“You didn’t confirm anything!” Ms. Quivers interjected.

“This was on CNN. Big headline and they brought people in. They were having a discussion — a panel discussion,” Mr. Stern continued. “I said nothing new. And so I emailed Trump and I wanted to explain to him that, uh, that is not what I said.”

“So I felt a little weird about that. I’ll be honest with you, I did,” he said.

Ms. Quivers added, “Well, you see what the press does. They make up things.”

“The only thing that I’m confirming is that the tape is from our show,” Mr. Stern said. “That much I can confirm. That’s all I was saying. That’s why they mentioned me at the debate. But I don’t know how CNN came up with that headline.”

During an interview with Mr. Stern in 2002, Mr. Trump was asked if he supported the Iraq War, to which he tepidly responded, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Ms. Quivers acknowledged Monday that Mr. Trump’s response was not an “enthusiastic” endorsement of the war.

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