Donald Trump had nothing nice to say about the female CNN reporter assigned to cover his presidential campaign during a Wednesday interview on “New Day.”
Although CNN anchor Chris Cuomo leapt to the defense of his colleague, Sara Murray, Trump repeatedly dismissed Murray as an “unemotional”, “low-key” and “terrible” journalist.
The charged exchange began when Trump criticized Murray for devoting insufficient attention to the crowds at his appearances, including a Tuesday afternoon book signing for his newly released “Crippled America” at New York City’s Trump Tower.
“Sara Murray didn’t report it very well,” Trump said, “because she never flips the cameras to show the lines. I think she’s absolutely terrible, your reporter. We had a line that went down practically to Park Avenue from Trump Tower.”
Cuomo replied that he drove past the line, and that it was quite long.
“If you listen to Sara Murray, you would think there’s three people standing in the atrium of Trump Tower,” Trump replied.
“That’s not the way she did it,” Cuomo fired back. “That’s the way you took it.”
“Either she’s a very unemotional person or she’s not a very good reporter,” Trump said. “One or the other.”
The CNN host pointed out that Trump has a long history of attacking the media—as well as his political opponents—when they say something he doesn’t like. Cuomo has himself squared off with Trump over his poll numbers on “New Day” and Twitter before.
Rather than addressing this broader question, Trump kept his focus squarely on Murray, disagreeing with Cuomo’s assertion that she is a “top-notch reporter.”
“I don’t see it,” Trump muttered repeatedly.
“She never reports on my crowd sizes,” he continued. “I have the biggest crowds. She shows her face, and never scans the room and shows the tremendous crowds that I’m getting.”
When Cuomo agreed that they should make the discussion “about you, not Sara Murray,” Trump replied that she might be “a low-key individual that doesn’t believe in showing crowds.”
Cuomo responded that Trump gets plenty of media attention, saying “everybody is uniform in their reporting that you are certainly the biggest celebrity in the race.”
A CNN spokesperson declined to offer a statement on Trump’s remarks to TPM.
After the show aired, Cuomo took to Twitter to offer further support for his colleague.
.@SaraMurray is a pro/ needs no consolation or defense. she comes from print, is dogged. attack is tactic not truth https://t.co/piMnXU99BR
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) November 4, 2015
sara is the real deal. everyone knows it. period. amen. trump makes politics personal, so we test on that basis https://t.co/SDm0T8aZfk
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) November 4, 2015
Watch their exchange below.
This post has been updated.
