Trump: Katie Couric Should Be Ashamed of Hit Job on Guns

Donald Trump slammed Katie Couric on Tuesday, saying the former television news anchor "should be ashamed of herself" for the editing on her documentary "Under the Gun" which portrays gun rights activists in a bad light.

The documentary has been roundly criticized, noted the Washington Post, for misleading editing of conversations between Couric and members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League around the question: "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

Trump, who was endorsed for president last month by the National Rifle Association, responded to the documentary's criticism on Twitter.

Katie Couric, the third rate reporter, who has been largely forgotten, should be ashamed of herself for the fraudulent editing of her doc.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2016

The defense league's president, Philip Van Cleve, took issue with the documentary's editing and released an audiotape of the session, which showed Couric first asking the question a bit differently and getting immediate answers from the panel – and not the awkward pauses shown in the version aired, said the Post.

"My teeth fell out of my head when I saw that," Van Cleve told the Post. "(It's) going to say these people are idiots. It affects all the gun owners."

The documentary was written, produced and directed by Stephanie Soechtig and narrated by Couric, who also served as executive producer, according to the Post.

Couric issued a statement recently on the "Under the Gun" website about the editing done with the Virginia Citizens Defense League members, acknowledging the misrepresentation.

"… I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League," Couric's statement said. "… When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a 'beat' was added for, as she described it, 'dramatic effect,' to give the audience a moment to consider the question.

"When VCDL members recently pointed out that they had in fact immediately answered this question, I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response." 

While "Under the Gun" follows gun violence victims as they call for stricter gun control laws, it has been roundly criticized by gun advocates. It has been called a "full-length assault on guns and the Second Amendment" by the website Bearing Arms and "dishonest politicking in the guise of media coverage" by the website Hot Air.

Said  the Washington Post: "the artistic 'pause' provides the viewer not a 'moment to consider this important question;' it provides viewers a moment to lower their estimation of gun owners. That's it."

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