Lewandowski Uses New CNN Platform To Campaign For Trump: “This Is Mr. Trump's Best Speech Of The Presidential Cycle”

Ali Velshi Notes Trump And Lewandowski's Inaccuracies: “People Who Check Facts Are Going To Be Very, Very Busy”

From the June 28 edition of CNN's CNN Newsroom:

Video file

PAMELA BROWN (GUEST HOST): Corey Lewandowski, on that note, you just left the Trump campaign as manager. What is the strategy behind this speech, and do you think he accomplished what he had hoped to? 

COREY LEWANDOWSKI: Well I think this is Mr. Trump's best speech of the presidential cycle, candidly. This is right on message. This is his core message of putting Americans first. This is about bringing jobs back to America. This is making a clear difference between him and the Clinton campaign and challenging the Clinton campaign, who have supported the TPP [Trans Pacific Partnership] on 45 different occasions, to step forward. The AFL-CIO is against the TPP. These are the type of people that Donald Trump is going to bring into the Republican Party to bring success in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. And not just is he giving this speech in Pennsylvania tonight, but then he's on his way to Belmont County, Ohio, St. Clairsville, a blue collar area that has been hit hard by bad trade practices, by NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement], by TPP. It used to be the heart of the steel industry and those days have gone by the wayside there. So this is a very, very strong message for him and I think the best speech he's given all cycle. 

BROWN: So you say the best speech he's given all cycle. I'm just curious, who writes his speeches? Does he write his speeches? Does someone else and then he goes in and makes tweaks? Kind of bring us behind the scenes of how this would go on. 

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, this is a particular area where Mr. Trump has a lot of experience understanding how bad trade deals have affected our country, understanding what job creation is all about. So these thoughts are predominantly his, and there are tweets from additional members of the team. But of course, at the end of the day, he decides what goes into the speech and what doesn't, and I can tell you he's extremely comfortable in this area. There's a clear difference from a businessman's perspective between him and Hillary Clinton, and this is something where this is a winning issue for him all day long. 

BROWN: Before we go on to our other reporters and analysts, I just have to ask you, his use of teleprompter. When did this change? Did he fight it at all?

LEWANDOWSKI: No. I mean look, when you're making a speech as detailed as this and laying out a seven-point plan and citing specific rules within that plan of how to withdraw from the TPP or NAFTA and citing Bill Clinton's support of NAFTA from December of 1993, you want to make sure you have all the facts right. And that's why the teleprompter was used today. The facts are very clear; the speech was delivered clearly, articulately, and again, the best speech of the campaign so far. 

[...]

BROWN: Let's look at this tweet that Hillary Clinton just put out. It says, “Trump speaking about outsourcing right now. Here's one of his shirts -- made in Bangladesh.” This is in line with what she said other products. His ties were made in China. Corey Lewandowski, how do you respond? 

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, Trump, the businessman, is somebody who wanted to make sure he had an obligation to his family and his business to make the best profits available, and that's different than Trump the president. What he's talking about now is bringing American jobs back here. And it's very different when you're in the private sector. When you're in the private sector, you have an obligation to your family and to your company to grow that company and provide good wages. And so if that opportunity was such where he had to go and find a product because he couldn't get it manufactured here in the United States, that's very different than being the chief executive officer of our country and bringing those manufacturing jobs back here.

[CROSSTALK]

ALI VELSHI: Corey's whole point is that he's a businessman. So that's the experience he's going to use in his presidency. I want to point out a few inaccuracies in his speech. President Reagan was an absolute free-trader who four times in eight years brought in trade restrictions, and on all times they were temporary. The NAFTA agreement between Canada and Mexico was negotiated and put through by President George H.W. Bush. He tried to fast track it before his term ended in January of 1993, and he couldn't do it in time, which is why Bill Clinton had to pick it up. And Bill Clinton added two side notes to that deal to add protections for U.S. workers. And his seven-point plan is a four-point plan because he divided China into three points and he divided other trade manipulations into two points. So he wants to pull out of the TPP, which by the way is supported by the majority of Republican congressmen in Congress. So there are a lot of things about this. If this is the best speech Donald Trump has given, if it's indicative of the type of policy speech he's going to be delivering, we are in for a very boring four, five months. And people who check facts are going to be very, very busy.

Previously:

Watch CNN's Corey Lewandowski Use CNN To Campaign For Trump For 5 Minutes

CNN’s Corey Lewandowski: “I Have A Great Relationship With The Press”

What We Do And Don't Know About CNN's Corey Lewandowski Ethics Nightmare

CNN’s Corey Lewandowski Struggles To Defend Trump From Newest Financial Report Irregularities