Trump Demands CNN Congratulate Him During Awkward Interview [Video]
A CNN interview with Donald Trump got off to an awkward start this morning when host Chris Cuomo posed a tough question to the presumptive Republican nominee. After leading into the interview with a brief rundown of Trump’s most recent attack against Hillary Clinton: recalling Bill Clinton’s infamous sex scandal. Cuomo asked Trump about the attack, and the New York billionaire got a little defensive. Things got even more awkward from there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z2WLwDC5Bo
“Well, this is a nice way to start off the interview. First of all you should congratulate me for having won the race. I thought, you know, at least there would be a small congratulations, but I’m not surprised with CNN because that’s the way they treat Trump,” said Donald Trump referring to the 24-hour news channel as the “Clinton network.”
Cuomo, taken aback, addressed Trump’s criticism by stating that he had indeed congratulated him the last time they spoke, reports Talking Points Memo.
NOT PRESIDENTIAL! Trump scolds CNN's Cuomo during awkward interview https://t.co/6gYDSbymf0 NO #Trump #LyingTrump NO #TRUMP2016
— tom nichols (@mrtom3560) May 9, 2016
“Wait. Hold on. Mr. Trump, I did congratulate you the last time we spoke. I said ‘Congratulations on winning the big race,'” Cuomo reiterated as he sparred with Donald Trump during the incredibly awkward interview.
Trump replied sardonically, making the already awkward interview even more bizarre. The presumptive Republican nominee took the opportunity to lay into CNN, effectively dodging Chris Cuomo’s attempt to direct Trump back to the questions at hand – the questions about his policy and his most recent attacks against Hillary Clinton.
“Thank you very much. So warm and so well-felt. You’re starting off with a question. We haven’t spoken. Last week toward the end, I was the – essentially the nominee of the party, and you start off with this question which is not surprising because – I understand CNN perhaps a lot better than you do,” said Donald Trump, pushing back against CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
The question Cuomo asked of Donald Trump was related to his recent attack against Hillary Clinton, which cited Bill Clinton’s infamous sex scandal. Trump referred to Hillary Clinton as “unbelievably nasty” and a “mean enabler,” referring to Bill Clinton’s marital infidelity. According to the Washington Post, the CNN panel of independent voters polled about the attack stated that they found the attack hypocritical given that Trump had previously bragged about infidelity of his own.
“Here’s the restart. You are going to be your party’s nominee, by all accounts. You are going to carry the standard for this party. You have said that once you get into the general, people will see what you have to offer. The first thing you’ve done with, hot and heavy out of the box, are these attacks on Hillary Clinton,” said CNN’s Chris Cuomo as he attempted to restart the increasingly awkward interview with Donald Trump.
Haha. I wish this election could go on forever. https://t.co/UThGwO9nHP
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) May 9, 2016
Trump stayed on the attack throughout the awkward interview, attacking Chris Cuomo for “not paying attention” and misrepresenting his statements. Trump alleged that Cuomo was attempting to take a small part of his speech and blow it out of proportion. Cuomo, on the other hand, pushed back against Trump, informing him that the attack on Clinton didn’t play well with independent voters.
“Why waste time with that?” Cuomo asked.
Donald Trump replied by imitating Hillary Clinton and brushing off the criticism.
“She’s playing the woman’s card to the hilt. I watched over the weekend, and everything is about women, and ‘Donald Trump raised his voice,'” Trump said, imitating Hillary Clinton, “It’s all nonsense.”
Trump continued, attacking Cuomo yet again for questioning him on the content of his stump speech last week in Eugene, Oregon.
“You took a small amount of the speech and you built it up like it’s the biggest thing in the world,” said Donald Trump.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
