Chris Cuomo’s contentious interview with St. Louis man who pointed gun at protesters
Mark McCloskey, the man who, along with his wife Patricia, was seen with a gun as protesters passed by his St. Louis home in a gated community Sunday night, appeared on Cuomo Prime Time on Tuesday in an interview that quickly devolved into a contentious butting of heads. In fact, it began with Cuomo’s first question.
Video Transcript
CHRIS CUOMO: How do you feel about becoming the face of political resistance to the Black Lives Matter Movement?
MARK MCCLOSKEY: First of all, that's a completely ridiculous statement. I'm not the face of anything opposing the Black Lives Matter Movement.
KYLIE MAR: Mark McCloskey, the man seen with a gun as protesters passed by his St. Louis Home Sunday night, appeared on "Cuomo Prime Time" on Tuesday, where he said that he and his wife grabbed guns as protesters approached because they feared the approaching crowd.
MARK MCCLOSKEY: I was a person scared for my life, who was protecting my wife, my home, my hearth, my livelihood. I was a victim of a mob that came through the gate. I didn't care what color they were.
I didn't care what their motivation was. I was frightened. I was assaulted.
KYLIE MAR: McCloskey had appeared on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News less than an hour earlier in an interview that was much less contentious. And McCloskey let Cuomo know how he felt about appearing on his show.
MARK MCCLOSKEY: I was reluctant to come on your show for a similar reason.
CHRIS CUOMO: When you said, I was-- I didn't want to come on the show, listen, I think I'm fair. I'm not going to use you as a pawn to advance my own agenda, like the show you just went on, which is where somebody wants people to see Black Lives Matter as inimical to the American cause.
KYLIE MAR: On Monday, President Trump retweeted a video of McCloskey and his wife. The reason Trump chose to do so was one of the main points of contention between Cuomo and McCloskey.
CHRIS CUOMO: He retweeted it because he liked the image of white resistance to this movement. And I'm not saying that was fair to you. But we know that's why he did it because that's why he deleted it. I wanted you to speak for yourself.
MARK MCCLOSKEY: Well, I'm glad you're-- I'm glad you're a mind-reader because no one else thinks you are.
CHRIS CUOMO: Oh, in fact, he didn't delete it-- good, makes my point even--
MARK MCCLOSKEY: No.
KYLIE MAR: And things didn't go much better when McCloskey's lawyer, Albert Watkins, weighed in.
ALBERT WATKINS: I'm not going to speak for the president. In fact, quite frankly, I find it probably an impossibility for anyone to speak for the president. And that's assuming one wants to say the president's piece.
CHRIS CUOMO: I don't even know what the hell you're talking about.
