"The media, of course, did not fire Gen. Flynn. President Trump did. What the media did do, was reveal to the nation that Gen. Flynn had lied to the country and to the Trump team," Tapper said during his program.
Trump on Wednesday defended the former official, stating that the media treated Flynn "very unfairly."
“I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media — as I call it, the fake media, in many cases,” Trump said during his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I think it’s really a sad thing he was treated so badly.”
Trump also condemned the leaks from the intelligence community that reveled that Flynn mislead White House officials about the contents of his phone call with the Russian ambassador. Flynn reportedly discussed sanctions with the diplomat and didn't tell senior White House officials, including Vice President Pence.
“From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, it's criminal action. It's a criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time before me, but now it's really going on,” Trump said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Flynn's departure was due to "an erosion of trust."
During his program, Tapper also went after Trump's tweet that accused the media of spreading "conspiracy theories" about Russia.
The CNN host then proceeded to show clips of Trump's previous remarks about Ted Cruz's father and President Obama's birth certificate.
"Those are conspiracy theories. These are facts, as established by former and current national security and intelligence officials," Tapper said.
Jake Tapper fires back: Media didn't fire Flynn, Trump did
