President-elect Donald Trump has more than 25 million followers through Facebook and Twitter, and senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said Monday she didn't understand why CNN's Chris Cuomo would criticize what Trump is tweeting.
"Why do you care?" Conway told Cuomo, after the "New Day" anchor asked her why Trump would attack the cast of Broadway musical "Hamilton" for lecturing Vice President-elect Mike Pence from the stage, and "Saturday Night Live" for lampooning him over the weekend.
"Who is to say that he can't do that, make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet and making a comment?" Conway asked.
"Why take it up?" Cuomo had asked Conway. "Why take up SNL? No president does that. Why waste time? Why distract?"
Over the the weekend, Trump attacked "Saturday Night Live," after Alec Baldwin returned for a skit, calling for "equal time" for his side of the issues. Trump also called on for apologies from the "Hamilton" cast.
"He has over 25 million followers on Facebook and Twitter and it's a great way for him to take his message directly to people and cut through the noise or silence," said Conway. "Important things he's saying or doing is getting zero coverage."
She went on to accuse Cuomo of assigning "malice," and focusing on division, and told him that "we should all learn from the election that this doesn't fly with the voters."
CNN and other critics, however, "will always be focused on divisions," Conway continued. "How about accepting the election results, Chris, and letting him form a government? He is a leader and takes the counsel of many people, and that's exactly what he's doing."
A leader, Cuomo replied, "should also have thick skin," and asked if Trump will spend his time as president attacking people through Twitter. Further, he told Conway that rather than tweeting on issues, he's posting complaints that "Hamilton" is "overrated."
"That's his opinion and your opinion," said Conway. "I'm going. I'm taking my 12-year-olds for their birthdays."
Trump, she continued, is "tweeting about the people he is meeting, which have been phenomenal," and the people coming in and out of Trump Tower are diverse and "come from many different backgrounds who are all lending their opinions and advice and experience" to Pence, who is leading the transition team.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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