Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway naturally took to the cable news airwaves on Friday afternoon to comment on the bombshell news concerning new details the FBI will investigate regarding Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server and on MSNBC, she was pressured to withdraw her candidate’s insistence that the “system” is rigged to benefit Clinton.
Upon playing a clip of Trump commenting on the investigation’s revamping so to speak, host Steve Kornacki pointed out to Conway that Trump stated Thursday night on Fox News that not only is the system rigged, but “I think the biggest rigging of all is what happened with the FBI and the Justice Department with respect to Hillary Clinton.”
Kornacki then asked Conway if she would be “rescinding that criticism of the Justice Department” to which she exclaimed her boss would not and “why would he do that” because “we only know what you know about the FBI's investigation” and “what Donald Trump said last night and today is a sentiment shared by millions and millions of Americans.”
With that answer not satisfactory to him, the 4:00 p.m. Eastern MSNBC Live host hit back to further illustrate the classic play in politics of deflecting and turning something back on the other party:
But Kellyanne, what I’m asking you is those criticisms of the FBI, those attacks that are talking about now, you say are coming from the Clinton side. They were coming for the past few months from the Trump side, from Donald Trump himself, from Donald Trump supporters....[H]e has been saying that the skids were basically greased to exonerate Hillary Clinton. I’m asking you, now that the FBI is taking this step, do you still feel, is it still the position of the Trump campaign that they are greased to protect Hillary Clinton?
The next question pertained to Mike Pence’s insistence that any and all e-mails related to the investigation be released before Election Day, but the final one played out like first two in trying to muddy the waters on this otherwise horrible day for the Clinton campaign by wondering if early voting has already mitigated any gained advantage from this news from Trump.
“The fact is, though, before any of this came out this afternoon, nearly 20 million votes had already been cast in this election because of early voting. Do you think that that numbs the effect — any potential positive effect what you’re talking about here,” Kornacki wondered.
Conway responded that she doesn’t think the millions of early votes have scuttled any downturn in votes for Hillary and bump in Trump voting: because “[w]e respect the fact that people have cast their votes, but we also like what we’re seeing in our early returns.”
The relevant portions of the transcript from October 28's MSNBC Live with Steve Kornacki can be found below.
MSNBC Live with Steve Kornacki
October 28, 2016
4:13 p.m. EasternDONALD TRUMP: They are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake they made. This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood and it is everybody’s hope that it is about to be corrected.
STEVE KORNACKI: And that was Donald Trump just in the last hour. I want to bring in now, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. Kellyanne, thanks for joining us. So look, that was Donald Trump this afternoon. Just last night, Donald Trump was on Fox News talking about the e-mail case. He said: “The system is rigged. I think the biggest rigging of all is what happened with the FBI and the Justice Department with respect to Hillary Clinton.” You now are rescinding that criticism of the Justice Department?
KELLYANNE CONWAY: No, why would he do that? He — look, we only know what you know about the FBI's investigation and it looks like a separate investigation based on Anthony Weiner’s sexting, of course, in this crazy election cycle and perhaps on a different device, but no, what Donald Trump said last night and today is a sentiment shared by millions and millions of Americans, Steve.
(....)
KORNACKI: But Kellyanne, what I’m asking you is those criticisms of the FBI, those attacks that are talking about now, you say are coming from the Clinton side. They were coming for the past few months from the Trump side, from Donald Trump himself, from Donald Trump supporters.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: No. They were coming from both sides.
KORNACKI: But he said for the last few months and again as recently as last night that the FBI investigation this summer was rigged, he has been saying that the skids were basically greased to exonerate Hillary Clinton. I’m asking you, now that the FBI is taking this step, do you still feel, is it still the position of the Trump campaign that they are greased to protect Hillary Clinton?
(....)
KORNACKI: You just said a minute ago something that echoes what Mike Pence, the candidate's running mate said a few hours ago. He said he calls on the FBI to release all e-mails pertinent to this investigation before Election Day, but given the sensitivity of this, given that the FBI says it’s conducting a review to see if of this information is classified, how could the FBI publicly release that right now? Wouldn't that be irresponsible to be releasing that information right now before there is a conclusion whether it’s classified?
(....)
KORNACKI: Very quickly, Kellyanne, just a strategic question here. You obviously think you’re making the case here for why this should help your campaign and hurt Hillary Clinton’s. The fact is, though, before any of this came out this afternoon, nearly 20 million votes had already been cast in this election because of early voting. Do you think that that numbs the effect — any potential positive effect what you’re talking about here?
