CNBC Exchange Goes Off Rails as COVID-19 Accusations Fly: '100,000 People Died and All You Did Was Try to Help Your Friend the President!'

CNBC Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin laid into co-host Joe Kernen for ignoring the coronavirus pandemic to help his friend Donald Trump.

Sorkin exploded after Kernen began criticizing him for his pessimism about the markets and asserted that a lot of “smart people” are saying markets are too high.

Spat Kernen: “Why is that the smart people?! They’ve been wrong for 35 percent! Why are they smart?! Just because they can see what’s right in front of their nose?! That doesn’t make them smart! It makes them not savvy about the market!”

The conversation got more and more heated until Sorkin went on blast: “Joseph! Joseph! You didn’t panic about anything! Joseph, 100,000 people died! 100,000 people died, Joe! And all you did was try to help your friend the president! That’s what you did! Every single morning on this show! Every single morning on this show! You used and abused your position, Joe! You used and abused your position! … I wasn’t arguing to go sell your stocks, Joseph! … I was arguing about people’s lives! … Do the news, Joseph! I’m begging you! Do the news!”