CNN host Chris Cuomo does not appreciate President Donald Trump quipping on Twitter that Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "teeth were falling out of her mouth" — one among scads of barbs Trump has leveled against his political adversaries — and Cuomo maintained that those who call themselves Christians can't support the "ugliness" the president "spits out."

What are the details?

Cuomo on Monday night's program grilled former Republican Congressman Sean Duffy regarding the GOP's "silence" in the aftermath of Trump's dig against Pelosi as well as similar putdowns.

"Should you be defending a man when you know it will force you to own the ugliness that he spits out so often that you can't possibly agree with?" Cuomo asked rhetorically. "The question becomes: How do you keep your credibility with this kind of silence?"

Tit for tat

Cuomo argued with Duffy that "telling the president he's right is being a follower, telling him he's wrong is being a leader, and nobody seems to want to do that in your party."

"Sean, you guys will say, 'Well, we don't like everything he says.' No, you never say that you don't like what he says," Cuomo continued. "None of you will say, 'He should not have said that about Nancy Pelosi. It was an ugly remark that is beneath the presidency.' None of you have said it."

Image source: MRCTV video screenshot

But when Duffy said everybody in the political spectrum has a "responsibility ... to be more respectful with one another," that wasn't good enough for the host, as Cuomo asked, "Why would I take that message from you when you refuse to call out the person who says the ugliest things most constantly?"



Duffy asked where CNN was last year when U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told leftists to publicly denigrate Republicans and get in their faces when they see them in everyday locations — a statement that appeared to open the door for a slew of such confrontations. But Cuomo insisted his network did call out Waters on the matter.

"I can't believe that your argument is 'there are people who support the president who feel that he's taking too much criticism, so they are OK with him saying that Nancy Pelosi's teeth are falling out.' Where is your high ground?" Cuomo shot back.

"But do you think it's okay for ... Pelosi to call into question [Trump's] manhood or to call him an imposter?" Duffy asked.

Instead of answering, the host replied with, "She says she prays for him every day and doesn't hate him."

'Are you a Christian?'

Cuomo then parroted what's become a left-wing default: Christianity.

"Remind me, Sean, are you a Christian?" Cuomo asked Duffy, to which the former congressman answered affirmatively.

"Your party basically wants to make Christianity the religion of this country, but certainly the guiding light of its party," the host continued.

But Duffy pushed back, saying the GOP wants "freedom of religion" and "the freedom to practice whatever religion you choose."

To which Cuomo replied, "Which often gets translated into the ability to discriminate against others" — and dropped the Big One.

"If you want to hold yourself as a Christian, you can't make any of the arguments you're making right now," Cuomo told Duffy.

(H/T: NewsBusters)