Top Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway on Monday morning defended Trump’s 2015 campaign appearance during which he appeared to mock a disabled reporter.
Conway criticized members of the media for focusing on what Trump says instead of reporting on what is “in his heart.”
“She was given the benefit of the doubt here constantly,” Conway said on CNN, referring to Hillary Clinton. “You can’t give him the benefit of the doubt on this? And he’s telling you what was in his heart. You always want to go by what comes out of his mouth rather than look at what’s in his heart.”
Trump’s apparent mocking of a disabled reporter bubbled back to the surface on Sunday when actress Meryl Streep criticized Trump for it during her Golden Globes speech.
“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter,” she said. “Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head, because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life.”
Streep’s comments prompted Trump to lash out on Twitter, claiming that he was not mocking the reporter but imitating someone “groveling.”
Watch a clip of Conway on CNN:
“Why can’t you give him the benefit of the doubt?” Kellyanne Conway says Trump wasn’t mocking reporter’s disability. https://t.co/3LAWwTIME4
— New Day (@NewDay) January 9, 2017
