Pastor Mark Burns Walks Out Of Interview After CNN Busts Him For Lying About Bio

Donald Trump only surrounds himself with the best people.

The night before CNN aired a bombshell interview exposing he falsified numerous portions of the bio on his website, Pastor Mark Burns released a statement apologizing that he “overstated several details.” On Saturday morning, the interview, conducted by New Day host Victor Blackwell, was aired and it revealed that the Trump-supporting preacher walked out after he was upset that Blackwell had pulled the curtain back on his facade.

When Blackwell first broached the subject, asking Burns about his false claim that he was a member of the predominately black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi, the preacher tried one of the oldest tricks in the book — he said the website was hacked.

“No, this is from my page. But what I’m saying is, obviously this has been manipulated or either hacked or added,” Burns responded to Blackwell’s question on whether or not this was on his website’s bio. As CNN noted, the site’s host stated that no hack had occurred.

Things just went downhill from there for the pastor. When confronted with his claim that he served six years in the US Army Reserves, Burns first said that was accurate. After Blackwell pointed out that the Army showed no records of his service, the Trump surrogate waffled, saying that he actually served in the South Carolina National Guard, not the Army Reserves. Per CNN’s fact-check, Burns served in the National Guard for four years.

But Blackwell wasn’t done. According to Burns’ bio, he had graduated with a Bachelor of Science from North Greenville University. However, he only attended for one semester. When the CNN host confronted Burns with the facts, he was met with silence. At this point, Burns started whining that he thought this interview was “off the record,” despite the cameras, lights, microphones and professional backdrop.

He then began pissing and moaning about how this was all unfair and CNN was just trying to destroy his character instead of doing a profile on him. He also mumbled something about political correctness and reiterated that someone must have hacked his website to try to hurt him. Eventually, he walked out and drove off in his car when Blackwell asked him about his claim that he was working on his Masters from Anderson Theological Seminary. (He enrolled in 2008 but never advanced.)

Below is the statement Burns released Friday evening:

“As a young man starting my church in Greenville, South Carolina, I overstated several details of my biography because I was worried wouldn’t be taken seriously as a new pastor. This was wrong, I wasn’t truthful then and I have to take full responsibility for my actions. Since that time I should have taken steps to correct any misrepresentations of my background. We all make mistakes, and I hope that the measure of my character and the quality of my works speak for what kind of person I am.”

“I do also want to set the record straight about why this attack is happening — because I am a black man supporting Donald Trump for President. For too long, African-American votes have been taken for granted by Democratic politicians, and enough is enough. Instead, I’m going to tell people that there is another option — an option that represents a position vision that will unify our country. That’s why I have and will continue to tirelessly support Mr. Trump.”

Remember, Donald Trump only surrounds himself with the best people.

Below is video of the interview, courtesy of CNN: