Jonathan Karl, the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, said in a new interview that he is "not part of the resistance" to President Donald Trump despite asking him tough questions.
Karl was on Mediaite's "The Interview" podcast and was asked about his recent question to Trump in which he said: "Why did you lie to the American people? And why should we trust what you have to say now?"
The question was in response to audio recordings in which Trump said he downplayed the COVID-19 threat to America and noted that it's deadlier than the flu, which clash with public statements he's made over the last several months.
"I've resisted using that word" lie, said Karl, the author of "Front Row at the Trump Show."
"I would prefer the readers and viewers of ABC to to make the judgment to you know, I give you the information. You can decide what the intent behind the information was. I will tell you when the president has said something that is not true."
Karl added, "We see him saying something, not only that is factually incorrect, which I had pointed out in real time, but something that we now have evidence on tape that the president was fully aware was incorrect. And in such a matter of such monumental importance. And then there's one other factor that led to the question. And that is the tape that [journalist Bob] Woodward released from March, where the president explains why he lied. He talks about how he didn't want to panic. That's why he downplayed what he knew to be the truth."
Karl, however, said he is merely doing his job as a journalist of asking tough questions when they're warranted.
"I'm not part of the resistance. I'm not his political opponents. I don't want people to see me in there and think I'm just out to get him," Karl said.
"But I also have something that is more important than all of those things. And that is that the reporter's first loyalty must be to pursuing the truth. And part of pursuing the truth is using clarity of language."
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