A Donald Trump campaign surrogate, who recently landed in hot water for tweeting a cartoon of Hillary Clinton wearing blackface, admitted he “overstated” details of his personal biography before CNN ran a disastrous fact-checking interview on Saturday.
In a pre-recorded CNN interview, Victor Blackwell pressed Pastor Mark Burns on whether he graduated from North Greenville University, served in the Army Reserves, and was a member of the historically black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi, details that were once posted on his website.
Burns didn’t take kindly to the line of questioning.
When Blackwell asked whether Burns graduated from the university, he replied he did not complete the degree.
“The bio that’s on your website claims that you earned a Bachelor of Science degree,” Blackwell pressed on. Nearly five full seconds of awkward silence elapsed before Blackwell again asked if Burns had earlier claimed that he graduated.
“I asked you just a moment ago, when we were opening up…First of all, we were off the record,” Burns tried.
“I didn’t agree to that,” Blackwell said.
“Yeah, but I did. I did,” Burns replied.
“We’re still rolling, I’m still asking you questions on the record,” the host said.
“I’m off the record,” Burns insisted. “I’m off the record.”
It didn’t improve much from there. Asked about his claim that he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, the pastor suggested his Wix site bearing that claim must’ve been “manipulated or either hacked or added.”
That same bio, which is no longer live, claimed Burns served six years in the Army Reserves. The Army confirmed to CNN that Burns served for four years in the South Carolina National Guard but was never a member of the Army Reserves.
“This is not fair at all,” Burns later said. “I thought you were going to do a profile and all of a sudden you’re here to try to destroy my character.”
“I’m not here to destroy your character,” Blackwell calmly replied.
Later on in the interview, Burns stood up from his chair, telling Blackwell, “I don’t feel comfortable at all.”
Shortly after, he walked out of the interview, which was being held in his South Carolina church.
Before the interview aired, Burns released a statement admitting he “overstated” details of his biography.
“As a young man starting my church in Greenville, South Carolina, I overstated several details of my biography because I was worried I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a new pastor,” he said in the statement to CNN. “This was wrong, I wasn’t truthful then and I have to take full responsibility for my actions.”
Burns went on to blame “this attack” on his supporting Trump’s campaign.
“I am a black man supporting Donald Trump for President,” he said in the statement. “For too long, African-American votes have been taken for granted by Democratic politicians, and enough is enough.”
Watch the full segment via CNN:
