Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum desperately tries to spin disastrous Trump interview with NABJ
Published
Citation From the July 31, 2024, edition of Fox News' The Story with Martha MacCallum
MARTHA MACCALLUM (ANCHOR): We are going to talk to Harris in just a moment, she's just taking her mic off and we're going to get her first reaction because we all know from being in similar situations when you are actually on the stage in these kinds of moments, there is a lot of back story and we are looking forward to hearing that from Harris in a few moments. Jessica, you're reaction to what we just saw?
JESSICA TARLOV (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): My reaction is that it was a complete dumpster fire for the former president. I don't feel the need to give him any credit for showing up there because he came with a terrible attitude, he hit all of his regular hits, lying about his record for Black Americans, the comparison saying he has done the most for the Black community since Abraham Lincoln is obviously ridiculous. Unemployment is lower for Black Americans under Joe Biden than Donald Trump. Everybody knows that, even Donald Trump knows that. People have told him. He just won't stop. I thought that he was rude and offensive to the questioners. I do not think, in response to what Joe was saying, that asking him for instance, about calling Kamala Harris a DEI hire is going into debate mode. This is who his opponent is and then his response --
MACCALLUM: Well Jessica --
TARLOV: That she used to be Indian and is now somehow Black was offensive no matter the color of your skin --
MACCALLUM: We all know, look. She -- I, I, you know, she has an Indian mother and a Jamaican father --
TARLOV: Right, she's Black!
MACCALLUM: I don't know why we have to -- she has an Indian mother
TARLOV: Yeah!
MACCALLUM: And a Black father. So those are two different backgrounds, so this is-- I, I just want to back up for a second here. They made the former president wait I think 45 minutes, they were having some sort of audio problem. Then he sits down and he can't hear Harris at the other end of the stage. They put him into that situation. We all know how thrown off you can get when you can't hear what is going on in this kind of situation. The opening question was very hostile, unnecessarily so. So, when you have someone come into any forum, a former president, everyone deserves to be treated with a modicum of respect coming in. If you have hard questions, no problem, no problem. You can go at them as much as you want. But I was actually shocked that he got up and shook her hand at the end, I thought that was gracious of him given at the top of this Jessica, which was just unnecessary.
TARLOV: Well I think that what the questioners were transposing was the sentiment that a majority of the Black Americans feel for former president Donald Trump. This is somebody whose overtures to the Black community have consisted of things like, 'I'm in the sneaker business, they'll love that.' Or, 'I have more convictions now, now that I'm a felon, maybe Blacks will like me more.' So I understand the standoffishness and as and I think it is great that he went and did it and that people can see it unfiltered and how he actually thinks about these issues, how he thinks about his own record, how he talks about other Black Americans. That's all crucial for this audience to see.