A New York Times reporter on Tuesday pushed back on a longtime GOP insider’s view on how Donald Trump is navigating the scandal unfolding after the damaging remarks that came out of the former president’s New York City rally. (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
A New York Times reporter on Tuesday pushed back on a longtime GOP insider’s view on how Donald Trump is navigating the scandal unfolding after the damaging remarks that came out of the former president’s New York City rally.
The moment came Tuesday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” when Scott Jennings, a Republican Party strategist and CNN conservative commentator, suggested that a statement addressing the rally was enough to distance Trump from the controversial remarks.
“Trump's campaign put out a statement before he ever even took the stage separating him from these comments – they obviously didn't agree with it,” Jennings told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
The former special assistant to President George W. Bush who also worked as a strategist for Mitch McConnell, added what he would do if he were in “Trump’s shoes.”
“I would just simply say, 'Look, are you going to worry about what an insult comic says? Or are you going to worry about the quality of your life, the cost of living, and whether you feel the economic anxiety today versus what you could have under me, which you know you had before?'” Jennings said.
But New York Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro quickly pointed out that Trump “has not said a single word” about the growing fallout.
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“His campaign put out a statement,” Jennings said.
“His campaign did but he has not said anything,” Garcia-Navarro responded.
“I know it doesn't satisfy you, but he did put out a statement saying it doesn’t represent his views,” Jennings insisted.
Garcia-Navarro continued her pushback of the Republican’s view by saying it “has nothing to do with me, it has to do with the Puerto Rican people.”
“They asked him personally to do it,” she told Jennings. She continued: "The very fact that he has not only not given a response, but tried to deflect and also say that it was a love fest, also say that it was a beautiful event filled with happy people when frankly, people can see with their own eyes, they can see their own screens, and they know what happened there. And so, I don't think that that is doing him any favors.”
Watch the clip below or at this link.