Oh, Larry King, you trickster you.
The Donald Trump campaign is scrambling to explain how the GOP nominee ended up on Russia-backed TV Thursday night, and they’re trying to get Larry King to take the fall.
A Trump spokeswoman told Bloomberg News’ Kevin Cirilli that the Republican nominee agreed to a phone interview for King’s podcast, and that he was unaware the interview would appear on Russian Television.
Trump campaign spokeswoman tells me that Trump “recorded a short interview with Larry King for his podcast as a favor to Mr. King.”
— Kevin Cirilli (@kevcirilli) September 9, 2016
Trump campaign spokeswoman says that they thought Larry King interview was going to be on King’s podcast — not RT.
— Kevin Cirilli (@kevcirilli) September 9, 2016
Trump campaign spokeswoman tells me that “what Larry King does with the interview content is up to him, we have nothing to do with it.”
— Kevin Cirilli (@kevcirilli) September 9, 2016
Trump spokesman Jason Miller gave a similar explanation that Trump thought the interview was for a podcast to CNN.
“Mr. Trump was never told it would be shared anywhere else,” Miller said.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway echoed Miller during a Friday morning interview on CNN.
“A former CNN superstar, Larry King, has a podcast, and Mr. Trump went on his podcast. Nobody said it would be on Russian TV,” Conway said on CNN’s “New Day.”
The RT appearance comes after Trump has showered Russian President Vladimir Putin with praise throughout the election. During the phone interview, King asked Trump about reports that American officials are looking into whether Russia is trying to influence U.S. elections.
“I think it’s probably unlikely. Maybe the Democrats are putting that out — who knows,” Trump replied. “If they are doing something, I hope that somebody’s going to be able to find out so they can end it. Because that would not be appropriate at all.”
