“Alright, well, there is no video of this is all I’m saying,” CNN Host Jake Tapper, pictured here in 2010, told Trump's lawyer on his show "The Lead." Jake Tapper to Trump lawyer: 'Seriously?'

Things got awkward between Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen and CNN host Jake Tapper on Monday afternoon.

Cohen, who is special counsel to Trump and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, passionately defended the GOP businessman on Tapper's show "The Lead" amid a raft of criticism of Trump's claim that "thousands" of American Muslims cheered 9/11.


“Mr. Trump's memory is fantastic. I've never come across a situation that Mr. Trump has said something that is not accurate,” Cohen said.

“Seriously?” an incredulous Tapper asked.

“Yeah, seriously,” Cohen responded.

“Alright, well, there is no video of this is all I’m saying,” Tapper said, referring to the fact that news outlets have been unable to substantiate Trump's claim about 9/11.

“Here’s the problem. The problem is that the accusers, meaning the mainstream media — no matter what Donald Trump says they’re going to try to refute to the best of their ability, and it’s just not working. That’s really the problem,” Cohen said.

Cohen then defended Trump’s account, saying that many of his supporters on Twitter back his claims.

“Are you calling all of them liars?” Cohen asked.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. You’re talking about people on Twitter,” Tapper sputtered. “Let me move on, because obviously I’ve gotten as far as I can with this line of questioning.”

“And at the end of the day, this line of questioning is really silly,” Cohen interrupted. “Even Sara Murray with her previous statements is exactly one of those accusers that no matter what Donald Trump says, you guys are going to go ahead and take a look at and try to figure out a way how to diminish and demean Mr. Trump,” Cohen said, referring to a CNN reporter who often covers Trump.

“No, it’s the scrutiny that comes with being a front-runner,” Tapper shot back.

Tapper then asked Cohen about Trump appearing to mock a New York Times reporter who has a health condition that limits movement in his arms.

At a rally last week, Trump said, “Now the poor guy, you gotta see this guy” and then flung his arms around imitating the reporter, Serge Kovaleski. He has since insisted that he wasn't mocking anyone's disability and that he didn't know Kovaleski, who covered Trump for years and says the two were on a first-name basis.

Cohen fired back that thousands and thousands of people have covered Trump over the years, asking Tapper how he could possibly remember all of them.

“You said yourself he has a fantastic memory,” Tapper jumped in.

The tense exchanged continued for 12 minutes, with Cohen bringing up other incidents he said were examples of media bias.