If what you thought you saw during CNN’s lynch mob town hall meeting Wednesday was bad, it turns out the truth was a whole lot worse.
NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch said the outraged crowd screamed “murderer,” “child killer” and even “burn her” as she walked to the stage before the event, saying she felt like the entire spectacle was set up like a boxing match.
“They had music that was playing. They had montages that they were flashing across the screen. They had a number of speakers from the school and from the community. They had the sheriff go up and speak. He mentioned special interest groups, referring to the membership of the NRA,” Loesch told The Federalist Radio Hour’s Ben Domenech Friday morning.
“I didn’t know how the setup was going to be. I didn’t know it was going to be in a giant arena where it was 360 all the way around. I had no clue. But I wanted to go and represent the people that I was representing, and also because I’m a parent, too. I have kids and my oldest child is just a few years younger than these kids.”
“Then they brought the politicians out…and that was the first hour. After all of this was already happening, after emotions were already running high, and after CNN put everyone together and cranked up, really trying to wind people up even more.”
…I had no questions in advance. It was even weird the way they had us walk out because it was like entering like you were a boxer or like WWE,” she explained. “You were walking up to the stage and they had music playing. You had to walk in aisles with all these people screaming and you had to walk toward the stage. That’s how you entered.”
“What were they screaming?” Domenech asked,
“Murderer,' 'child killer,' and 'burn her,’” Loesch said.
“I spoke with a student of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School just a little bit ago on my radio program, and he–cause I was told—I thought I’d heard it, but I was told by a lot of other people that that was said, and he said, 'Oh, yeah,' he’s like, 'They said that and a lot more,'” she added.
Loesch added CNN’s Jake Tapper, who moderated the event, didn’t seem to have – or even want – control over the event, continually allowing the crowd to scream her down and launch obscene accusations to her face.
“I know Jake, and it might strike a nerve, me saying this, but I think he lost control,” Loesch said.
“I don’t know if he lost control or if that was CNN’s intention, because [CNN President] Jeff Zucker was there. When we were backstage getting ready to go out, Jeff Zucker came in. He doesn’t just show up for nothing. This is not a day at the ballpark. It was weird. There was no control. It just went on forever and ever. At some point, you’re just desensitized, because where is the moderation? This is where a moderator drives this. You’re a moderator, you have to make sure people are being heard and it’s not just people standing up and giving speeches and screaming at somebody."
Loesch had previously spoken about having to be escorted from the building by armed security out of fear for her own safety.