ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly pestered North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum with questions about former President Donald Trump during an interview on Sunday about Burgum’s presidential campaign.
The questions from Stephanopoulos, who used to be the press secretary for former President Bill Clinton, came after the former president was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on four felony counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Stephanopoulos said that he wanted to let Burgum talk about his “campaign and the future” but every question he asked was about Trump, including:
- “He’s facing three felony indictments. Have you read the indictments, and what’s your reaction to them?”
- “Was Donald Trump wrong when he pressured Mike Pence not to certify? Was Mike Pence right when he certified?”
- “Do you have an opinion on the fact that the President Trump tried to overturn the election as alleged in the indictment this week by special prosecutor Smith?”
- “It’s not simply a legal question, sir. It’s a moral question. It’s an ethical question. It’s a question about civics. Do you believe the president was — Trump was right to try to overturn the election results?”
- “You’re not answering my questions about the front-runner who you need to defeat in order to become the presidential candidate for the Republican Party. You mentioned irregularities. Those have been adjudicated by the courts dozens and dozens of times and they ruled against President Trump every single time. Mike Pence said, flatly, I really do believe that anyone who puts themselves above the Constitution should never be president of the United States. Do you believe that President Trump has disqualified himself?”
Burgum indicated during the interview that he believed that Americans want a candidate that is focused on them and that will talk about issues that they matter to them, like inflation and high energy costs.
“We’ve got to be looking to the future, not to the past,” he said. “Presidential campaigns should be about the future, not about the past. And that’s what we’re bringing, that voice to this campaign.”
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