The upcoming Monday night debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was the hot topic on the Sunday morning talk show circuit. And naturally, the subject wasn’t one of debate strategy but guests who could shake up the opposing sides.
It all started with Mark Cuban’s projected appearance in the front row. Folks seem to think he’s joking, which is a natural reaction since Cuban acts like a troll on Twitter. But the Dallas Mavericks owner did receive an invitation from the Clinton campaign, and an aide told CNN: “He has the best seat we have access to.” Whether this turns out to be a “Humbling at Hofstra” as Cuban predicted remains to be seen because Trump could bring his game face.
Trump retaliated with a tweet-threat to invite Gennifer Flowers to sit next to Cuban. The assumption is that Clinton will be rattled by the presence of her husband’s former mistress, and Flowers both denied and confirmed her attendance. Sunday morning saw a giant clean up effort by Team Trump after criticism over what some see as him showing his true colors despite the Flowers threat being all for show.
First, Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Flowers was not attending, and Trump was simply reacting to Mark Cuban’s trolling in aid of Clinton: “Mr. Trump is putting them on notice that we can certainly invite guests that may get into the head of Hillary Clinton.” Conway added, “I can understand why Hillary Clinton wants a billionaire in the front row. That’s just another Monday night for her.” Conway, who’s working to get a billionaire elected as president, said this without a trace of irony. After more assertions by Conway that Trump is only counter punching, Tapper leveled with her: “That’s kind of like the mythology of the Trump campaign. But the truth is he attacks people on their own all the time.”
Next, Trump VP pick Mike Pence popped over to speak with Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Pence chided Clinton for turning the debate into “an episode of Shark Tank” instead of treating it like “serious business.” Pence, too, forgets something — that not too long ago, Trump kicked off a debate by referencing his penis size. He also tried to launch a discussion of Trump’s “broad-shouldered leadership,” but Wallace asked him to actually answer whether Flowers will be in attendance. Pence replied that Trump was only tweeting “really to mock an effort by Hillary Clinton and her campaign to really distract attention.” Then Wallace asked him to consider whether Cuban and Flowers could really be considered as the same level of distraction. Watch below.
