Donald Trump's campaign manager denied Monday that the GOP nominee had "lied" about NBC News' Lester Holt not being able to treat him fairly because he was a Democrat, when he is actually a Republican.
"I don't know that he knew what Lester Holt's voter registration is," Kellyanne Conway told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "What we don't like is the following. What we don't like, and first, if you're going to tell me the media is not overly populated with Democrats."
"I'm asking you about a specific thing," said Bloomberg Politics Editor Mark Halperin, who had asked her if Trump had been telling the truth in an interview earlier this week.
"He made a factual thing about the moderator who conserves the right to be treated fairly, and it was just wrong. It's a metaphor for his frequently in public stating things that have no basis in truth."
The controversy started after Trump told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that he doesn't trust Holt to serve as Monday night's debate moderator because he "is a Democrat." O'Reilly said he did not know that, but that he did know that the co-moderators of the second debate, ABC's Martha Raddatz and CNN's Anderson Cooper, are both Democrats.
It's a phony system," Trump said. "Lester is a Democrat. I mean they are all Democrats. Okay? It's a very unfair system."
But on Monday, Conway denied that Trump had lied about Holt's party affiliation, because he didn't know exactly what it was.
"A lie would mean that he knew the man's party registration," Conway told show co-host Mika Brzezinski. "We're very — by the way, we're very comfortable [with Holt]. Each campaign had a right to object to certain moderators."
"So, as president, would he say things that are false without knowing the truth?" said Halperin.
"What I would ask you to do is look at the Twitter feeds of 'objective reporters,' particularly our embeds," said Conway. "These are not profiles in courage and this is not journalism. There are people who cover our campaign who slander our candidate."
Meanwhile, the campaign was "appalled" at how NBC's Matt Lauer was treated after the Commander in Chief Forum earlier this month. "I said it, Mr. Trump has said it many times. Matt Lauer did not deserve the treatment and the blowback he received. We thought he did a great job. Matt Lauer didn't set up Hillary Clinton's private server. Excuse me. Matt Lauer didn't vote for the war in Iraq."
"I'm asking you how someone who is running for president can assert on the eve of the debate that the moderator is a Democrat, which is factually incorrect?" Halperin argued. "How can he do that?
"The thing that concerns us is not the moderators themselves because they would be seen as fair. What bothers us is the very public and very coordinated attempt to gain the refs," said Conway.
"It's irresponsible of them to be telling the media through Twitter, through the back of the plane comments last week, that here's your job, if you don't fact-check Donald Trump, the bar is lower," she continued.
"Some of them are even suggesting the questions would be tougher on her because of sexism. Seriously? You have been secretary of state, you have been first lady. You have been a U.S. senator."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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