CNN anchors John Berman and Poppy Harlow confronted Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) over tweets he made mocking Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Harlow asked Lieu, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, about his tweets made on Tuesday prior to Sessions' testimony before the committee.
The congressman made a reference to a recent controversy involving Keurig and Fox News' Sean Hannity as he prepared for the hearing to start on Tuesday.
Brewing a tasty cup of @Keurig coffee to help get me through the Lyin' Jeff Sessions hearing that is about to start. Do you think @seanhannity covers this hearing or does he discuss the threat of emojis? pic.twitter.com/yUBnPu2kKO
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 14, 2017
He continued to call the AG "Lyin' Jeff Sessions" and referred to comedienne Kate McKinnon who portrays Sessions on "Saturday Night Live."
Kate McKinnon about to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Oh wait, that's actually Lyin' Jeff Sessions. #SessionsHearing pic.twitter.com/6SoCneca7o
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 14, 2017
Lyin' #JeffSessions takes the oath, which would be the necessary first step if he were to be prosecuted for perjury. pic.twitter.com/nghOuLCUZm
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 14, 2017
"To prejudge his testimony, I mean, your tweets about him being a liar were before he even appeared in front of you," Harlow said. "Why is that appropriate? Why prejudge him?"
Sessions seemed to say the hearing was unnecessary because from his perspective, it was an established fact Sessions previously lied under oath.
"Because he lied to [the] U.S. Senate," Lieu said. He continued his accusation that Sessions lied to Congress during his confirmation hearings, an accusation Sessions vehemently denied. Lieu also justified the words he used to describe Sessions by saying they were ones President Donald Trump had used.
Harlow and Berman did not accept Lieu's answers.
"But does that make it right?" Harlow said. "Do you like seeing the president use words like that, like ‘lying Ted,’ so then you repeat them?"
"I am absolutely highlighting it, and until the president changes, I am going to keep doing it because I do want to highlight how ridiculous it is," Lieu said.
"Is that a grownup thing to do, Congressman?" Berman asked.
"So remember when Michelle Obama had that beautiful line, right, ‘when they go low we go high?’ My view is when they go low, we fight back, and I'm going to fight back," Lieu said.
"When they go low, we stay low?" Berman asked in an attempt to clarify Lieu's philosophy.
Lieu continued to defend his comments and said that if Trump calls people names, he will too. Berman and Harlow appeared disturbed by Lieu's answers.
"Is that what you would teach your children to do? Is that what we should teach our children to do?" Harlow asked.
Lieu claimed he teaches his children to stand up to bullies, and that is what he is doing when it comes to the president.