Rep. Matt Gaetz: It’s ‘Good’ That Trump and Hannity ‘Bounce Ideas Off Each Other’ on Policy

Trump loyalist and frequent Fox News guest Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) embraced the idea of a primetime cable news host simultaneously acting as a presidential adviser Thursday night, saying it’s a good idea for President Trump to “bounce ideas off of” Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

With Trump following the plan Hannity detailed on his show Wednesday night and announcing that he’ll declare a national emergency to obtain additional border wall funding, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo confronted Gaetz on the president relying so heavily on right-wing media figures.

“He has Hannity and [Ann] Coulter and all of these people in his head — rent-free by the way,” Cuomo exclaimed Thursday night during an interview on Cuomo Prime Time.

After Gaetz responded that Cuomo was “throwing shade” at Hannity, the CNN host suggested it was the opposite, arguing that the Fox News host “is without question the most powerful person in the media because what he says the president does — not vice versa.”

The far-right congressman, meanwhile, labeled Hannity a “transformational figure in the media” but pushed back — slightly — on Cuomo’s claim that the president does whatever Hannity says.

“It’s not that clear,” Gaetz declared. “I have been witness to interactions where they have exchanges and robust discussions and bounce ideas off of each other.”

He continued: “I think it’s good that we have a president that bounces ideas off of a lot of different people. He’s not just stuck in the cocoon of the West Wing.”

Cuomo fired back, pointing out how “crazy it is that with all the expertise that the president is privy too that he chooses someone like me to listen to about major policy matters.” Gaetz, however, said that he rejected the notion that Hannity and Cuomo were anything alike.

“We are different,” the CNN anchor acknowledged. “But when it comes to what either of us knows about national policy and how to lead and how to govern we’re at zero. That’s why we’re on TV. He knows it.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.