Jake Tapper hosted Kellyanne Conway on Sunday morning for one last round of spin before Tuesday’s elections. The main topic of discussion involved Saturday night’s incident in Reno, which saw Trump rushed offstage by Secret Service. Key figures within the Trump campaign (Donald Trump Jr. and adviser Dan Scavino) quickly framed the event as an “assassination attempt.” They did not correct their misinformation after the truth came to light.
Tapper asked Conway to justify why the Trump campaign allowed untruths to stand about the man, Austyn Crites, who did not have a gun and was simply holding a “Republicans Against Trump” sign. Conway mentioned how Donald Jr. was likely scared during the situation, which is understandable, but he retweeted a false claim and never deleted the tweet. Conway deflected by saying, “All the coverage is usually about our protesters wreaking havoc and making people feel afraid. And it certainly goes both ways.”
She then acknowledged that there was misinformation, but she feels it truly lies with how Crites was a Clinton supporter. Conway concludes that he was a “Democratic plant or operative trying to disrupt our rally.” She also thanked Tapper for mentioning that a Clinton rally was disrupted by rain, which — in Conway’s eyes — demonstrates the bravery of Trump, who returned to the stage after a few moments, whereas Clinton was deterred by weather.
Tapper confronted Conway: “Except it wasn’t an assassination attempt.”
Conway then took umbrage with what she sees as an incredible bias on the part of CNN, which she says has already called the election for Trump: “You guys retract that,” she said, “and I’ll give a call to Dan Scavino.” Tapper responded that no one at CNN has denied that Trump has a path to victory.
Here’s a longer version of the interview. Tapper and Conway also talk about how Trump thinks the election is rigged. Trump seems to believe buses of Democrats are taken into polling places after closing time, whereas the issue only involves those who are still standing in line. As Tapper points out, this tradition benefits both Democrats and Republicans. Check it out at 4:30.
