CNN's Kate Bolduan Calls Out Trump Adviser On Trump's Record Of Actions And Rhetoric That Are “Demeaning To Women”
Bolduan: “Tell Your Boss To Stop Perpetuating This Conversation And You And I Can Talk About Important Things”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the March 24 edition of CNN's At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan:
KATE BOLDUAN (HOST): So Stephen, this all could have ended yesterday. This could have ended with our conversation yesterday, because this could have ended because the candidates could have ended it. But Donald Trump then sent out the retweet. “No need to spill the beans. The images are worth 1,000 words.” Explain the retweet. Explain this coming from Donald Trump.
STEPHEN MILLER: I think the retweet speaks for itself. There was a vicious, mean-spirited, uncalled-for attack on Mr. Trump's wife, and it was a personal attack about her image and appearance, and so he responded as any normal person would. So I don't really understand what the concern is, but I will say again that the Cruz campaign needs to tell the super PACs and their donors to stand down.
BOLDUAN: But Stephen, this retweet, coming from your guy, has nothing to do with the super PAC. It has nothing to do with donors. This is Donald Trump continuing to want to talk about this fight, after both sides have had their say. I do wonder, why does Donald Trump want to continue to talk about this? Because as I look at this retweet as a woman, it's demeaning to not only Ted Cruz's wife, it's demeaning to Melania Trump, because she's got a lot more going for her than just her looks and you don't see that in this retweet.
MILLER: Well, I would not presume to speak as to what Mrs. Trump or Mr. Trump or anyone else in the family views the tweet, but I think the retweet speaks for itself and I think that you and I are probably just going to have to agree to disagree on this, which is fine. Not everyone is going to see eye-to-eye on things 100 percent of the time.
BOLDUAN: So you --
MILLER: But we don't agree --
BOLDUAN: You endorse the retweet, then? You endorse the retweet.
MILLER: Of course I do. Of course I endorse the decision to retweet it. But I mean, you and I are aren't going to see eye-to-eye on everything and that's fine.
[...]
BOLDUAN: I'll say this, though, Stephen. Again, this retweet has nothing to do with the super PAC, because the super PAC had nothing to do with creating this retweet, or having your boss retweet it. And yes, we will agree on one thing: put politics out of this. You and I are not going to agree on endorsing something that is demeaning to women, including Donald Trump's wife. I do --
MILLER: Women want safe communities. They want jobs, they want security --
BOLDUAN: Women also want to be taken for more than what they look like.
MILLER: And I couldn't agree with that more. And the campaign -- we are going to be the best administration for women's issues in this country. And the most important thing to keep in mind is that women in America have been destroyed economically by misguided policies, on taxes, regulations, immigration, and trade, and we are going to reverse that. And we are going to --
BOLDUAN: Alright Steven, how about this? Tell your boss to stop perpetuating this conversation and you and I can talk about important things, like maybe how he would handle the threat of terrorism in the face of the Belgium attack. But he continues to just want to retweet this kind of feud with Ted Cruz.