ABC’s Muir Left Speechless After Trump Brings Up March for Life

January 26th, 2017 12:29 AM

Wednesday night was a major first for Donald Trump as ABC aired his very first interview as the President of the United States. The interview questions ranged from immigration policy to what carpet he chose for the Oval Office (Ronald Reagan’s), but things got awkward for interviewer David Muir when he tried to stick Trump with questions about the Women’s March on Saturday, “Let me just ask you while we’re standing outside, could you hear the voices from the Women's March here in Washington.”

“No, I couldn't hear them. The crowds were large, but you will have a large crowd on Friday, too, which is mostly pro-life people,” Trump informed Muir before hammering him for the media’s long history of blatantly ignoring the annual March for Life in Washington, DC:

You’re going to have a lot of people coming on Friday. And I will say this, and I didn't realize this. But I was told. You will have a very large crowd of people. I don’t know as large or larger. Some people said it will be larger. Pro-life people and they say the press doesn't cover them.

Muir was caught completely off guard and was left stuttering by the turn of events. “I don't want to compare crowd sizes again. I – I—I,” he said, trying to scramble away from the issue of liberal media bias against conservatives.

But Trump wouldn’t let it go and pressed Muir further, “No, you should—But let me just tell you. What you do say is that the press doesn't cover them.” That was followed by a hard cut to another camera angle, which was strange since the original shot was keeping pace with the pair as they walked down the colonnade towards the West Wing.

Trump eventually answered Muir’s question saying that he did have a responsibility to be everyone’s president:

I do, but I have to also say, we just had an election. A few weeks ago. And they voted in many cases, and some cases they didn't vote I imagine. And we did have an election. With that being said, absolutely have responsibility to everybody, including people that didn't vote for Donald Trump. Totally.

Trump made a very important point, though, about the coverage of the March for Life. The Media Research Center’s Curtis Houck noted in November 2016 that CBS and NBC dedicated three times more coverage of one Neo-Nazi rally (in 2016) than they did the last four years of the March for Life. So far for this year’s march, the networks have spent 129 times more time talking about the Women’s March, as was discovered by the MRC’s Katie Yoder

Transcript below: 

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ABC
President Trump: The First Interview
January 25, 2017
10:41:28 PM Eastern

MUIR [Voiceover]: And as we walked through the White House, we asked the president about the voices. Just outside Washington, D.C. And across the country, the more than a million women, men, and children who marched during the inauguration.

Let me just ask you while we’re standing outside, could you hear the voices from the Women's March here in Washington? We know there were more than a million people who turned out, and you are their president now too.

TRUMP: That’s true.

MUIR: Could you hear them from the White House?

TRUMP: No, I couldn't hear them. The crowds were large, but you will have a large crowd on Friday, too, which is mostly pro-life people. You’re going to have a lot of people coming on Friday. And I will say this, and I didn't realize this. But I was told. You will have a very large crowd of people. I don’t know as large or larger. Some people said it will be larger. Pro-life people and they say the press doesn't cover them.

MUIR: I don't want to compare crowd sizes again. I – I—I--

TRUMP: No, you should—But let me just tell you. What you do say is that the press doesn't cover them.

MUIR: We saw the marches around the country and you are their president now. Do you sense the responsibility to reach out now and to unite them? For those women, men and children who marched who are watching this, what would you say to them?

TRUMP: I do, but I have to also say, we just had an election. A few weeks ago. And they voted in many cases, and some cases they didn't vote I imagine. And we did have an election. With that being said, absolutely have responsibility to everybody, including people that didn't vote for Donald Trump. Totally.