Trump lawyer goes on bizarre rant on live TV before storming out of ‘car crash’ interview

An attorney of Donald Trump has launched into a rant about the media before removing his microphone and leaving while the cameras rolled on live TV.

In an interview with CBS News, Trump defence attorney Michael van der Veen spoke to the news anchor about the former president’s acquittal from his second impeachment trial. Donald Trump stood accused of inciting his supporters to riot, leading to the insurrection on Capitol Hill on January 6.

When asked whether Van der Veen may be part of Trump’s defence team should more charges be brought against the former president, he called the threats “political rhetoric”.

The attorney argued during the trial that Trump had no part in causing the insurrection and said that while the scenes that took place on that day were horrific, “what happened at the Capitol during this trial was not too far away from that.”

In his TV interview, Van der Veen also implied that the prosecutor’s evidence against Trump was doctored. When the television host tried to explain to viewers what he was referring to, Van der Veen went off on a rant about the media.

The host, Lana Zak attempted to clarify what he meant, saying: “To be clear for our viewers, what you’re talking about now is a checkmark that’s a verification on Twitter that did not exist on that particular tweet, a 2020 that should have actually read 2021, and the selective editing, you say, of the tapes.”

The lawyer took offence, replying “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That’s not enough for you? That’s not enough for you?” before launching into a tirade calling the media “blood-thirsty for ratings”.

When Zak tried to reassure him she was simply asking the question to make it clear to the viewers what he was referring to, the lawyer again replied angrily.

“A slanted question that was set up to say ‘it’s ok for them to cheat’,” he claimed. “That’s what you said. You’ve got to live by your words. That’s the problem, the media has to start living by the truth and not try to create a narrative.”

He then removed his microphone as the host tried to thank him for appearing. It’s doubtful he’ll be getting invited back any time soon.