Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort accidentally said he would support Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for president while joining left-wing CBS’s This Morning on Thursday.
Asked about Trump’s refusal to endorse Ryan’s reelection campaign in his primary contest against Paul Nehlen, Manafort made his slip when goaded to endorse Ryan by Norah O’Donnell.
“I support [Ryan] as the speaker, and I know after next week I’m gonna be supporting him as a candidate for president, too, I mean, for,” said Manafort, catching his misstatement. “Starting another rumor. I’m starting another rumor.”
Manafort denied that Trump had poked at Ryan when asked about endorsing the speaker in his upcoming primary election. Speaking with left-wing journalist Philip Rucker of The Washington Post, Trump mocked Ryan by echoing the speaker’s own statements towards him; saying “I’m just not quite there, yet.”
Manafort blamed “the media” for concocting narratives politically damaging to his boss, neglecting to directly call out the left-wing anchors seated across from him for framing the news to benefit left-wing perspectives and Hillary Clinton.
Earlier in the segment, O’Donnell implied that the news cycle at CBS would have been damaging to President Barack Obama – given recent reports of $400 million in cash being delivered to to the Iranian regime – had Trump not forced her employer’s hand with recent comments about Muslim Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghzala Khan.
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