GOP Rep Calls CNN Show a 'Joke' on Live TV After 'Ridiculous' Question

Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) took Piers Morgan to task on his show Monday after the CNN host accused the congressman of "stabbing [House Speaker John Boehner] in the back" for voting against the debt deal.

The interview kicked off with Morgan asking Mack whether he could presume the congressman "would have been quite happy for your country to go into catastrophic default" because he voted no.

"Well then, you would have presumed wrong, obviously," Mack said.

The two debated the merits of the deal and the economists who supported it, with Morgan asking at one point, "I'm sure you've heard of Paul Krugman, for example. He won a Nobel Prize for economics."

A few minutes later, Morgan asked Mack if he could also presume Mack wanted Boehner (R-Ohio) to resign the speakership "given he's authorized this terrible deal?"

"Of course I don't believe that," Mack said. "I think the speaker has done as good a job as he can given the circumstances....It's not something that I supported, but that's what happens here in Washington, D.C. all the time."

"If he's done such a great job, why did you stab him in the back?" Morgan asked.

"I didn't stab him in the back. Come on, don't be ridiculous with stuff like that. Now you're just making your show a joke," Mack replied.

"Really, why is that?" Morgan asked.

"For saying things like that, Piers. Come on," Mack said.

Morgan challenged Mack's comment before repeating the back-stabbing remark again about Mack's no vote on the deal: "You are stabbing him in the back, metaphorically. Not really, you're not doing it with a knife, but effectively, that's what you're doing."

Watch the CNN clip below: