CNN host Jake Tapper called out Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on Sunday for falsely suggesting that Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a rally in Reno where a protester was beaten by fans of the billionaire candidate.
After 33-year-old Austyn Crites was pummeled by Trump fans on Saturday for holding a "Republicans Against Trump" sign at the GOP nominee's Reno rally, Donald Trump Jr. and Trump aide Dan Scavino falsely called the incident an “assassination attempt.”
On Sunday, Tapper asked Conway to explain why the Trump campaign was "retweeting misinformation that this was an assassination attempt."
"It's scary," Conway opined. "All the coverage is usually about our protesters wreaking havoc and making people feel afraid. And it certainly goes both ways. I'm with Mr. Trump and the Secret Service routinely. They do an amazing job."
"I also want to point out because some people are spreading misinformation about the protester," she continued. "He had canvassed for Hillary Clinton and he had donated to her campaign. So, this is a Democratic plant or operative trying to disrupt our rally. And I think people saw a nimble resilient Donald Trump who would be nimble and resilient as president as well."
"Except it wasn't an assassination attempt," Tapper pointed out. "It was apparently a local voter, a Republican who says he is supporting Hillary Clinton. He has given money to Hillary Clinton. He has canvassed for Hillary Clinton. But he says he's a Republican. But most importantly, he was not trying to assassinate anyone."
"This was not an assassination attempt, but why is your campaign spreading that it was?" Tapper wondered.
"That's really remarkable," Conway replied. "That that's what the story line is here."
Pivoting to the Democratic nominee, the Trump campaign manager asserted that Hillary Clinton was traveling with Beyonce because she was having trouble getting people to come to her events.
Conway concluded by defiantly offering to retract the assassination claim if CNN retracts "all the storylines, all the headlines, all the breathless predictions of the last two weeks that turned out not to be true."
"You guys retract that and I'll give a call to Dan Scavino about the retweet," Conway quipped.
"I never reported anything along those lines," Tapper stated.
"CNN certainly has," Conway shot back as Tapper shrugged. "You've got to be honest here."
"We've been saying all along that Donald Trump has a path to the presidency," Tapper insisted.
"Wow!" Conway exclaimed.
"You can say 'wow' all you want, I've never said that the race was over," Tapper laughed. "We can replay as many tapes as you want."
