Manafort Slams CNN for Embracing the 'Clinton Narrative'

Most Americans didn't consider Donald Trump's call for gun advocates to block Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal Supreme Court justices as a threat, but CNN chose to "take the Clinton narrative," Paul Manafort, the GOP nominee's campaign chairman, argued Sunday.

"You could have covered what he was saying, or you could try and take an aside and take the Clinton narrative and play it out," Manafort told CNN "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper.  "There's plenty of news to cover this week that I haven't seen covered. You had information coming out about pay for play out of emails of Hillary Clinton's that weren't turned over, by the way, to the Justice Department for her investigation."

There was also a NATO base in Turkey under attack, and economic numbers showing the nation's productivity, homeownership, and more had dropped, and more news that was "part of what Mr. Trump was talking about," said Manafort.

Instead, he continued, CNN took an "aside" that Trump said he didn't mean and "played it out for two days."

"These things, just because you say them, they're not true," Tapper retorted, telling Manafort that CNN covered Trump's economic policy speech as well as the release of Clinton's emails showing contacts between aide Huma Abedin and Clinton Foundation donors. "We have been covering the substance."

"There's not a comparison here," argued Manafort. "You had a chance to have a serious discussion about the two economic programs that were presented this past week by the two candidates. There was no discussion."

Manafort defended Trump's "Second Amendment" comments, saying that his point was that people who cared about the amendment should be concerned about Clinton's plans.

"You can interpret it, which I certainly didn't, as a threat, but if you want to go back and look at threats, go back to 2008 when Hillary Clinton was running against Barack Obama," said Manafort.

"In May of that year when she was clearly the loser and asked why are you still in the race she said, well, remember, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. I mean, that's a much more direct reference laid at the feet of Hillary Clinton."

Tapper said he covered that story in 2008, and that Clinton apologized after making the comment.

Manafort also addressed the issue of Trump's refusal to release his tax returns, saying there is nothing on them that Trump does not want the public to see. However, the nominee has made it clear that he will not release his returns until the IRS finishes auditing them.

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