White House adviser Kellyanne Conway sparred with CNN host Brian Stelter Sunday over whether President Donald Trump has a “credibility crisis.”
Stelter wanted to know what the White House was doing to combat historically low approval ratings, and Conway insisted the media is ignoring the historic gains achieved in the stock market.
“Given President Trump’s historically low approval ratings, what specific steps are you and your colleagues taking to try to repair Trump’s credibility?” Stelter asked. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 65 percent of Americans believe Trump has done little a year after his election.
“The numbers that matter to America is the 1.5 million jobs created on his watch, the 54 record highs in the stock market closes, the consumer confidence level at a 17-year higher, higher than both George W. Bush and President Obama,” Conway said.
Stelter continued to ask about Trump’s credibility, saying that “the American people are not giving him credit, according to the polls.” Conway insisted the country does credit Trump with the improvements in the economy, and that CNN has its own credibility crisis.
“You have the voice going through your promos saying ‘CNN: the most trusted name in news,'” Conway said. “What evidence do you have of that? I’ve seen polling numbers to the contrary.”
“CNN used to be a place where people can tune in and get the news all day long. Now they get spin and people’s opinions. CNN should own it,” Conway said. “Why not say, ‘Look, it’s in our commercial interest at CNN to be anti-Trump. We’re profitable if we’re against the president, most of our viewers are against the president.’ Just own it. Don’t you think that would be more profitable for CNN?”
Stelter later said that Trump doing good things for the economy is like a doctor telling a patient that he has cancer, but at least he can still walk.
“It’s like a doctor walks in and says you have cancer and it’s spreading throughout your body, but the good news is your legs and feet still work,” Stelter said “It’s great that I can walk but I want to treat the cancer, Kellyanne, and that’s why I’m asking about his historical low approval ratings.”
“Wow, I’m not going to buy into that awful analogy because I know many people who are suffering with terminal cancer right now, so I think it’s a terrible analogy you just offered to the viewers,” Conway responded.
“I know there’s a lot of hand-wringing in the mainstream media that the country doesn’t need you to spin and filter what the president just said,” Conway said. “They read his tweets when you read his tweets… They don’t need you to tell them what he just said.”
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