Watch Trump Surrogate Pastor Mark Burns’ Painfully Awkward CNN Interview That Ended In A Walkout

South Carolina televangelist Mark Burns is a regular staple at Donald Trump’s rallies, where he whips up the crowd with fiery introductions. Burns gained national recognition after delivering the benediction at the RNC, and last week, he drew negative attention with a now-deleted tweet that featured a cartoon Hillary Clinton in blackface. Burns asserted his belief that Clinton is pandering to black voters, and he made this statement even while acting as a surrogate to Trump, who has been openly telling black voters that only he can save them from a life of misery. But Burns issued a sort-of apology for causing offense while explaining that his sentiment still stood.

Now, Burns’ increased profile is leading to scrutiny that he can’t withstand. His RNC speech drew the attention of a Republican Navy veteran named Damon Davis, who checked out Burns’ website because he’d never heard of the guy. Davis soon found that Burns’ bio contained a false claim of Kappa Alpha Psi membership, and that was only the beginning. Armed with their own fact-checking results, CNN interviewed Burns at his South Carolina church, and the results were painful to watch.

In reference to the false fraternity claim, Burns told host Victor Blackwell that his website must have been hacked: “Obviously this has been manipulated or either hacked or added.” (CNN followed up with Burns’ website host, Wix, who issued this response: “There is no evidence of a hack.”) Blackwell also asked Burns why his bio claimed six years in the Army Reserves, but the Army told CNN he was only in the South Carolina National Guard and had no Active Army or Army Reserves time. Burns insisted, “It is Reserves. The Army South Carolina National Guard is Reserves.”

When the time came for Blackwell to question Burns’ claim of a bachelor’s degree from North Greenville University (which told CNN he attended for only one semester), things grew ugly. Burns looked alarmed and began stumbling: “First of all, I said we were off the record.” He then wondered by he was being attacked: “This is not fair at all. I thought we were here doing a profile, and all of a sudden, you’re here to try and destroy my character.” Blackwell pointed out that Burns’ website contained these claims while he spoke at the RNC, and Burns tossed out an excuse about “extremely, extremely old information.” At that point, Burns stood up and walked out of the room. He left the building, hopped into a van, and drove away.

Burns subsequently issued a statement, which included an admission to “overstat[ing] several details of my biography.” He claims he only wanted to be taken seriously when he began his church. Burns accepted responsibility and says he’s corrected the information, but he does want to clarify his feelings about why “this attack is happening.” Burns believes CNN looked into his background “because I am a black man supporting Donald Trump for president.” And he still believes Clinton is pandering to the black community.

Burns tweeted his full post-walkout statement, which you can read below.