Steve Cortes, CNN Contributor Benched for Fighting Charlottesville Hoax, Met with Trump

CNN commentator Steve Cortes met with President Donald Trump Friday after CNN benched him for dispelling the “Charlottesville hoax” that the president once called Neo-Nazis “very fine people.”

Cortes was seen leaving the White House Friday afternoon, and a source familiar with the situation reported that President Trump met with the CNN contributor in solidarity.

A source said that CNN benched him and prevented him from appearing on CNN for disputing the mainstream media “very fine people hoax.”

The mainstream media– as well as former Vice President Joe Biden — have continued to insist that Trump referred to Neo-Nazis as “fine people.” Cortes and many others have disputed this claim.

During a press conference after the Charlottesville rally in 2017, Trump said, “I’m not talking about the Neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally – but you had many people in that group other than Neo-Nazis and white nationalists, okay?”

Cortes has fought the Charlottesville hoax for months.

The CNN contributor wrote in an op-ed for Real Clear Politics in March, referring to Trump’s quotes condemning Neo-Nazis, “These Charlottesville statements leave little room for interpretation.”

“For any honest person, therefore, to conclude that the president somehow praised the very people he actually derided reveals a blatant and blinding level of bias,” he added.

Cortes also fought the Charlottesville myth in a video for PragerU in August, saying that the media committed “journalistic malfeasance” by perpetuating the notion that Trump had referred to Neo-Nazis as “very fine people.”

President Trump thanked Cortes for the video in August.

Thank you Steve! https://t.co/4qwvkUTg5t

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019

The Charlottesville hoax has been frequently perpetuated by 2020 Democrat presidential candidates, including frontrunner Joe Biden and bottom tier former Rep. Beto O’ Rourke (D-TX).

Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak confronted Biden regarding his misquoting of Trump’s Charlottesville comments.