GOP Strategist Bursts out Laughing When CNN Anchor Asks How He Would Advise Trump After Unhinged Presser
Republican strategist and CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton burst into laughter after he was asked how he would advise former President Donald Trump following his controversial remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris‘ race.
“Donald Trump tried to argue that he was not the one who raised the question when he was questioning Kamala Harris’s ethnicity,” said CNN anchor Erica Hill on Thursday. “Despite saying in part eight days ago that Harris, quote, ‘happened to turn Black,’ in his words, and ‘now she wants to be known as Black,’ Donald Trump now saying it’s Harris who’s being disrespectful.”
After Hill asked, “Shermichael, how do you work with that if you were advising the campaign?” Singleton burst into laughter before responding:
Erica, if I had to answer that question, I’d be the richest guy on this panel right now. Look, I think Lindsey Graham was right when he said, I think on this network a couple of days ago, that this stuff isn’t helpful. From a campaign perspective, you want to be able to pivot and draw the contrast from your opponent.
He then said:
If I were advising the principal, I would say, “Look, we need to bring the contrast about previous positions in the past to the flip-flop of new moderation today and continue to talk about those issues from police officers, from immigration, to health care, on and on.”
You constantly bring that message before a journalist, eventually the journalist is going to say, “You know what? That’s a good question. We probably should ask the vice president, why are you changing your positions, why are you moderating, what’s different now compared to before?” And those are very substantive questions that I think a lot of voters would be interested in finding the answers to.
Singleton concluded, “But when you’re not focused on those sorts of things, we’re talking about this, and it’s not helpful because it doesn’t necessarily add to the voter pool, and that’s always what you’re attempting to do in electoral politics. You want to add, not subtract.”
Following Trump’s decision to question Harris’ race at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago last month, Singleton expressed confusion over Trump’s line of attack.
“Overall I just don’t see what the net gain here was, and I think a lot of Black people will watch this appearance and then they will point to the former president and they will point to the Republican Party and say this is exactly why we will never give you all the majority of our support,” he said.
Watch above via CNN.
Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com
