Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, has a couple, teeny-tiny favors to ask of CNN: Could the network stop asking about all the absurd things her boss has done? And could it stop taking what Trump says literally?
In a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar Wednesday afternoon, Conway railed against the network for focusing on unsavory moments from Trump’s past, such as walking in on Miss Teen USA contestants while they were changing.
Conway, responding to the new Miss Teen USA revelation, repeatedly attempted to deflect the conversation. Finally, she attacked CNN for not focusing on good things about her candidate.
“Maybe you want to ask me who it is I see day by day,” Conway offered as an alternative subject. “This intelligent, clever, gracious gentleman, frankly, whose family’s making a huge sacrifice to run for president. Nobody wants to talk about that. You want me to comment on something he said to Howard Stern in 15 seconds 10 years ago. “
(“I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone is getting dressed and ready and everything else and no men are anywhere,” Trump told Stern in 2005, talking about his conduct at beauty pageants. “You know they’re standing there with no clothes... I sort of get away with things like that.”)
This came just minutes after Conway wondered why people take Trump’s statements ― like threatening to jail his political opponent, as he did during the second presidential debate ― literally.
”Talking about jailing your political opponent is something that ...” Keilar began.
Conway jumped in: “No he’s not, he’s talking about the result,” she replied. “You’re taking it literally and you’re stuck on this one thing. ... Americans want to talk about other things.”
Conway insisted that Trump was just making a “quip” about jail. He really means Clinton would be entitled to due process, she said.
“You’re saying that he had to stop and say, ‘Here is how you get to jail. Here is the process.’ It’s completely ridiculous,” Conway complained.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularlyincitespolitical violence and is a
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