In an awkward interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Trump surrogate Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) struggled to defend all of Donald Trump’s latest rants including one against a judge hearing a lawsuit against the Trump University.
In the interview, Blitzer asked what Collins thought of Trump’s current legal case involving Trump University and Trump’s inference that the judge–who unsealed documents in the case– was “Mexican.”
“I don’t know anything about the Trump University case. That was so long ago. I can’t tell you that I know anything about it or could speak to why Donald Trump called out the judge. That would be something to ask him,” Collins said trying to defer the question.
Blitzer asked again, reframing the question as what Collins would do if he were in the situation.
“Well, Wolf, I would not be making those kinds of accusations. I don’t know the details or what prompted Mr. Trump to basically lay into the judge. I really — I would say, no, I would not be calling a judge out like that. But I’m not Mr. Trump and that’s a question to ask him,” Collins said.
The exchange was just the latest example of a Trump surrogate struggling to answer for Trump’s sometimes bullying and unconventional approach to media and his perceived opponents. Collins at one point even noted that he had tried to talk to Trump about his tone, but that Trump continued to be Trump.
“We’ve had that discussion. From what I’ve read in the press, I believe his wife and daughter have as well,” Collins said. “Donald is Donald. And he wears it on the sleeve, calls it out for what it is. People love him for speaking directly.”
Earlier in the interview, Blitzer had asked Collins why he Trump had even had a press conference Tuesday about his belated donation to veterans charities if he was going to bash the media the entire time.
“He could have just posted that at the same time, right?” Blitzer asked Collins.
“That’s very true. But, again, Donald is new to politics. You know he’s frustrated. He takes things personally. He’s new to this,” Collins said. “I am glad that it’s out there. I’m not going to speak to how he did it, whether it was a quiet release or a noisy news conference.”
