CNN's Jake Tapper wrapped up a lengthy interview with Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on this Sunday's State of the Union by asking him about their New York Co-Chair, Carl Paladino and his nasty remarks about the Gold Star family who appeared at the Democratic National Convention this year.
Here what Paladino said for anyone who didn't already read about it this week: Co-Chair Of NY Trump Camp: Khan Doesn't Deserve Title Of Gold Star Parent:
The co-chair for Donald Trump’s campaign in New York is defending the Republican nominee's attacks against the Khan family, saying that Trump does not have to respect or refer to Khizr Khan as a "Gold Star parent" because he is "a member of the Muslim Brotherhood."
In an interview with "Imus in the Morning" interviewer Connell McShane, surfaced by BuzzFeed News, Carl Paladino said that focus in the election has unnecessarily shifted negatively to Trump, despite having an "un-indicted felon," presumably Hillary Clinton, in the race and a supporter of hers, Khan, being undeserving of the title of "Gold Star parent."
“We’ve got an un-indicted felon as his opponent and you’re talking about Khan, about him making a remark about this man,” he said.
“All right, I don’t care if he’s a Gold Star parent," he continued. "He certainly doesn’t deserve that title, OK, if he’s as anti-American as he’s illustrated in his speeches and in his discussion. I mean, if he’s a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or supporting, you know, the ISIS-type of attitude against America, there’s no reason for Donald Trump to have to honor this man.”
So what was the Trump campaign's response? Deflect, try to change the topic to Hillary Clinton, and then try to pretend you didn't know about what happened when you're called out for it. You've gotta' love Jake Tapper's response at the end.
MANAFORT: Look, I'll follow up on that. I'm not sure what he said. In saying that, I'm concerned that the father of the Pulse cabaret murderer who killed a number of gays in Florida two months ago was sitting in the VIP section of Hillary Clinton's speech last week in Florida. That concerns me, wondering how he could get into that kind of speech. He's an avowed Islamic radical and that concerns me. She's totally ignored that fact.
TAPPER: Alright. You didn't address the question at all, but that's all the time we've got.
MANAFORT: Well, I don't know about the quote. I don't know about the quote. I'll have to check into the situation. Certainly Mr. Trump has made it very clear that he recognizes the sacrifices of all Gold Star parents, and he has... he empathizes for that loss and he talked about the importance of having a policy that will reduce the risk of terrorist threats in America and around the world.
TAPPER: Okay.
MANAFORT: And this week we'll be talking about that.
TAPPER: Mr. Paladino, your New York co-chair is attacking a Gold Star family, so you might want to look into that.