JAKE TAPPER (CO-HOST): Let me ask you also, Jeffrey, there was a moment where President Donald Trump claimed that he had won the biggest electoral college victory since Ronald Reagan. You are a student of history, so I know that you knew that that was not true when he said it. George H.W. Bush, [President Bill] Clinton, Clinton, [President Barack] Obama, Obama. Five others --
LORD: Well, he was talking about Republicans. In fairness, I do think he was talking about Republicans.
TAPPER: Well, even with Republicans, George H.W. Bush had a bigger one. But the larger point that the reporter from NBC brought up was, you are calling us fake news, and yet you are saying things that are not true. How do you have credibility to call us fake news?
LORD: I think it was a simple mistake. And Jake, again, in fairness, I think this is the problem that so many people have with the news media, is that they’ll zero in on some little, nitpicky thing like that and make a major event out of it. I had somebody here locally say to me during the campaign, you know, they recognized me, and they came over and they said -- and it was a comment about CNN, which I'll be happy to make on air here, just so you know -- and they said if Donald Trump sneezed, CNN would spend four days talking about his damage to the environment. That's the kind of perception, not just about CNN, but about the media at large, and that's the kind of feeling that he addresses. And what you're talking about there, I think, is a good example of it.
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DAVID CHALIAN: How do you -- beyond the style, now on the substance -- how do you go about as president, as the leader, to accomplish all of these things that you have promised on the campaign trail to govern the country on the whole and get those accomplishments without broadening your appeal? That, to me, is the part that is going to confound his presidency, if all he’s doing is appealing to the stylistic enjoyment that his supporters had for him throughout the campaign, and certainly still do?
LORD: I would suggest that the president himself showed how he does this. When April Ryan stood up and gave that question about the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus, he immediately said, “well, go set up the meeting.” And she said she's a reporter, and I understand all of that, but in other words, his willingness to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus telegraphs right there that he's willing to sit down with people who oppose him and have a conversation and try and find some area of agreement and move forward. I mean, that's exactly the kind of person he is. You know, there he is having a conversation with Al Gore for heaven's sakes.
