National Public Radio (NPR) host Rachel Martin tried to equate the bullying of an 11-year-old boy with President Donald Trump’s sometimes aggressive tweeting habits.
Martin was interviewing White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday morning when she asked her about Trump’s State of the Union invitation to a boy name Joshua Trump, who had endured bullying at the hands of classmates because he shares a last name with the president. (RELATED: Boy With Last Name ‘Trump’ Gets Bullied Into Changing It)
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway appears on a morning television show, from the North Lawn of the White House on Aug. 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“Is the president going to mention Joshua in his address?” Martin asked Conway on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” before injecting, “And in doing so, will he apologize for his own role in cyberbullying people with whom he disagrees?” (RELATED: Kellyanne Conway: Women Who Label Trump A Misogynist Are ‘Jealous’)
Conway apparently did not want to dignify the question with a direct answer, so instead focused on Joshua, whose story, she said, would touch the heart of anyone with children in elementary school.
“Will the president apologize for how he’s used the internet to bully people?” Martin said.
President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Conway preferred to describe the president’s Twitter social media conduct as utilizing his “considerable media platforms to cut through the middlemen who don’t tell the truth about his record.” Conway also emphasized that Trump calls out a variety of people in his tweets, including his recent condemnation of Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for his blackface admissions and vocal support for a late-term abortion bill. (RELATED: Trump Calls Out Intelligence Community, Warns Iran Is Still ‘Source Of Danger And Conflict’)
Martin returned to Trump’s criticism of the intelligence community and politicians like Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters — alleging that there is “some hypocrisy … inviting a young man who has been bullied.”
Conway said Trump’s address Tuesday night will call for unity. “The speech is very challenging; he’s calling on all of us to work on some very big issues together.” She also also emphasized that Trump has been effective in achieving bi-partisan legislation and envisions more such opportunities.