Attorney For Capitol Rioter Melts Down on CNN's 'New Day,' Gets Cut Off While Yelling About Torture

CNN's John Avlon had quite an eventful morning on New Day. He interviewed Joseph McBride, an attorney for one of the Capitol rioters (specifically Richard Barnett, the man who was photographed with his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk).

The interview began in a fairly expected manner, with McBride maintaining his client's innocence and proclaiming the death of law and order and all that jazz. Things quickly spiraled out of control, though, when McBride claimed the Capitol rioters who are still imprisoned in Washington D.C. are being tortured.

Avlon pushed back on that, naturally, which led to more aggressive claims from McBride along the same lines. After McBride insisted these claims were based on truth and compared the U.S. government to both the Gestapo and the Soviet Union's propensity to throw dissenters into gulags, Avlon cut McBride off and thanked him for coming on the show. McBride exited while still yelling about the alleged torture the Capitol rioters were being subjected to in DC prison.

The whole clip can be viewed below. McBride begins to assert his torture claims around the seven-minute mark.

Well-handled by the CNN host here, I'd say. It's not easy to deal with a public meltdown on television. Avlon did so very well. We will see how the government (or, more likely, the DC police) respond to these unsubstantiated claims that the rioters are being tortured and withheld their rights while imprisoned.