This kid kept his cool while under full assault by Chief Refridgerator Ranger, and cooly walked a minefield when interviewed by a hostile media.
What really triggered the libs was that Sandmann smiled the whole time.
I don't believe he was interviewed by the media. They reacted to a video circulated on Twitter and perhaps took the word of Phillips as to what happened. That's what the debate is largely about. The highly negative comments regarding Sandmann were based solely on viewing a narrowly-cropped video.