Federalist journalist Brianna Lyman clashed [1] with Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York on Wednesday night during a live appearance on “CNN NewsNight,” accusing the congressman of twisting facts and using dangerous rhetoric after he labeled President Donald Trump a “fascist.”
The exchange occurred during a discussion about escalating tensions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, where multiple riots have taken place amid the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.
In response to the unrest, President Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard to protect federal property, a move that prompted criticism from several Democratic officials, including Goldman.
Goldman joined host Abby Phillip alongside Lyman and “Just Right” host Phil Williams to discuss the deployment.
The segment quickly grew tense when Goldman claimed Phillip had been “fact-checking” the two conservative guests, leading to a sharp response from Lyman.
“You’re not going to sit here and fact-check us when you spread the Russia collusion hoax, come on!” Lyman said.
Goldman replied, “I didn’t actually fact-check you. Abby did.”
Williams then turned the discussion to immigration policy, criticizing Democrats for what he described as the dismantling of Trump-era border control measures.
“You’re absolutely on the wrong side — you’re on the wrong side of history on all of this, and you know it,” Williams said. “You let 11 to 12 to 13 million people stream across the border. And now we’re dealing with it.”
Goldman responded by claiming that Trump’s leadership was authoritarian.
“I guarantee you, I can guarantee you, that you are on the wrong side of history because this President is authoritarian and he is a fascist,” he said.
Lyman immediately objected. “That is assassination prep language,” she said, accusing Goldman of using rhetoric that justifies violence against political opponents.
As Goldman attempted to clarify his statement, Phillip interjected and played a clip of Trump calling then-Vice President Kamala Harris a “Marxist” and a “fascist.”
Phillip then argued that political labels should be held to the same standard on both sides.
“If you’re going to apply that standard to Congressman Goldman, you got to apply it to Donald Trump,” she said.
Lyman pushed back, stating that her objection applied universally.
“Abby, I don’t know if maybe you weren’t listening to what I just said. I just said it’s unacceptable for no matter who it is to call someone else a fascist,” she said.
Lyman went on to explain why such language is dangerous.
“When people hear the word fascist, Nazi, Hitler, you rightfully think of people in the 1940s who had to be defeated by any means necessary because of what they were doing to this world,” she said.
The conversation grew more heated when Goldman attempted to cite the recent murders of Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband as evidence of political violence.
Lyman interrupted to challenge his account.
“By a guy who had a flag that said, ‘No Kings,’ or flyers that said, ‘No Kings?’ Who was appointed by Tim Walz?” she asked.
According to a report by the New York Daily News, the accused killer had claimed in a letter to the FBI that he was acting on behalf of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat.
Lyman continued by connecting Goldman’s rhetoric to other recent acts of political violence.
“When you call someone like Charlie Kirk, when you call someone like Speaker Gilbert, like Jay Jones — who I don’t know if your viewers know this because it hasn’t been discussed on this show in four days — when the attorney general candidate in Virginia is calling for two bullets to the head for Speaker Gilbert and calling his little children fascists, you are implicitly justifying resistance by any means necessary,” she said.
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