A spokesperson for Donald Trump defended his fraught relationship with the media Wednesday, arguing that it shouldn’t reflect on his ability to serve as president.
Appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson argued that her boss’s frustration with press scrutiny during the campaign is based on unfair coverage and doesn’t mean he can’t withstand the pressure.
Trump’s frustration was on full display Tuesday when he lit into the media at a news conference about a veterans’ fundraiser he’d held in January, after reporters aggressively questioned the campaign’s accounting for the event in the intervening months.
“Many of the reporters know the facts, but choose to write horrible stories about him or portray him in a negative light,” Pierson said. “That is not going to happen when Mr. Trump is president, because we’ll have the available resources to put out to the American public where the policies of the past have failed, and what we want to do. So it’s not going to get to the point of a temperament question because the people will be behind Mr. Trump.”
“So you’re saying [Trump] says what he says because he doesn’t have the resources to fight on the facts, is that what you’re saying?” host Chris Cuomo asked.
Pierson shot back that “many of the people in this country thought it was a fantastic press conference yesterday because he was defending himself and fighting back against the media.”
At one point during the press conference Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump if he would behave this way if he becomes president and Trump responded that he’s not going to change.
Trump continued his media attack Wednesday, tweeting: “So I raised/gave $5,600,000 for the veterans and the media makes me look bad! They do anything to belittle – totally biased.”
Pierson also argued that Trump’s propensity for fighting the press — and his oft-mentioned affinity for “counter-punching” — doesn’t mean he can’t be a conciliatory leader in the right setting.
“It’s quite obvious when Mr. Trump is in a boardroom meeting with peers and colleagues, he’s not talking to them the way he’s talking to the media. Why? Because they are not treating him the way the media is doing to him today. So it’s all about give and take. Mr. Trump is a counter-puncher. This is nothing new,” she said.