Posted on 09/07/2015 1:44:16 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
The conservative radio host accused of asking Donald Trump “gotcha” questions in an interview this week has denied the charges, saying he has no favorites and will ask “hard questions” of all candidates later this month when he acts as a questioner in the second Republican primary debate.
“I don’t do gotcha questions,” Hugh Hewitt told CNN on Sunday, adding that Trump had had a “great interview” in which he had been “very sophisticated” and “almost Nixonian” in other answers.
In the interview, broadcast on Thursday, Trump confused Iran’s Quds force with the Kurds and said he would know the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas “when it’s appropriate”.
“I will know more about it than you know,” Trump added, “and believe me, it won’t take me long.”
Amidst widespread amusement over his responses, the real-estate billionaire who leads polls concerning the Republican field reacted angrily, calling Hewitt a “third-rate talkshow host”.
Appearing on CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday, Hewitt brushed off Trump’s anger.
“I don’t do gotcha questions and I am very open to being criticized by people if they think it’s a gotcha question,” he said.
“But when I asked Jeb Bush would he be hesitant to invade Iraq a third time, because of his brother and his father, when I asked Jeb Bush if he was worried about dynastic politics influencing young democracies, these are tough, focused questions.”
He also said: “Who’s the president of Nigeria is a gotcha question. I think the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah is significant.”
With the CNN anchor Dana Bash, Hewitt will ask questions in the second GOP debate, which takes place in Nevada on 16 September. The debate will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“What’s important to me is that people know the debate’s coming up,” Hewitt said on Sunday. “I have no favorite, I have no dis-favorite, I’m going to ask them all hard questions because I think the job of hosts is to ask questions that Republican primary viewers, and there are millions of them across a broad spectrum, want answers to.”
Hewitt added: “Sometimes people are caught off guard. [Trump] had a great interview, by the way.
“He actually had a tough question from me on how would he respond as president if the Chinese were to sink accidentally or intentionally a Japanese or a Philippines vessel, and he gave a very sophisticated – I would almost say Nixonian – answer about why you don’t tell people what you’re going to do in certain situations.”
Hewitt said he had asked the same questions of the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, another “outsider” candidate performing well in the polls – and possibly heading for the main stage in Nevada. He did so, he said, “so that I could have a control group because I hate gotcha questions”.
Fiorina, he said, “also admitted, which I think is a good thing, that sometimes she gets the names confused. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi … are we talking about Nasrallah or Hezbollah, are we talking about the guy running Hamas, it’s easy to get confused.”
Saying “I got my Donald Trump tattoo” and promising not to be biased against him in the debate, as some conservative outlets charge that he will be, Hewitt added: “So he didn’t like some questions, he liked some questions, he took a shot at me, that’s fine.
“I tell people I’m not perfect. I’m just the best on radio. I think I am the best interviewer on radio in the United States.”
All I’m saying is every single thing the media has tried to do to Donald has backfired.
Maybe they should just do their jobs.
“I think I am the best interviewer on radio in the United States.”
The United States of Gotcha.
Why?
Can Trump refuse to work in the Oval Office as long as Putin stays in Ukraine?
As President, you need to be able to pull up your big boy pants and get the job done. And Trump has. He has gone on hostile shows and held press conferences full of reporters out to get him.
Surviving the attacks of the press show you are ready for the job. Hiding from a hostile press (I'm looking at Hillary), shows you can't stand the heat.
Accused Of?
How about, “I’ll take ‘The Most Ridiculous Trivia No One Could ever Care About While the President Purchases a Nuclear Weapon for our Worst Enemy Ever’ for $2000 Alex?
Next Star Chamber inquisitor.....
Ignore this. It will have no effect on Trump.
Hewitt, Americans don’t want a president that knows all those sound-alike jibberish camel jockey names. I don’t want someone who wants to get to know them, or wants to talk to them.
I want those bastards to worry about the name of the President for once.
Trump needs to position to boycott unless his campaign gets 1/2 of the advertizing $ for the show.
Before Hewitt was chosen to be the debate moderator he was openly trashing Trump on his radio show. Not in an offhand way, but directly.
Then after Hewitt was selected as moderator he ceased the open criticism and in fact had Trump on as a guest for several days over a two week period. And then of course came the question featuring the obscure names of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.
I’m sure that most of us here at FR know what Hamas and Hezbollah are all about without knowing the names of their leaders. Focusing on a detail was designed to embarrass Trump and Hewitt is simply lying when he pretends it was for any other purpose.
Abu al Bin Dirka Dirka
Thump Hewitt.
Mr. Hewitt, who the president of the Society of Professional Journalists?
Don’t know, ok.
Then tell me what the four tenents of the Journalism Code of Ethics are.
You can’t.
Then you not qualified to call yourself a jounalist by any stretch and sould not be allowed to interview any public figure ever.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree hypocrite.
https://www.spj.org/spjboard.asp
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
“Why?”
Because the American people need to hear a substative debate and all the candidates on stage need to be heard from, with the chance to answer THE EXACT SAME QUESTION. It is no debate when the same person is asked time and time again or accusations thrown their way, and the other candidates on stage almost go to sleep for being ignored. That was the first debate and that will the second.
Trump should relish the chance to go after the debate moderators.
If mistreated in any way or asked foolish questions he should put the moderator on the spot and not let up...crucify the bastard. Bring the whole debate to a screeching halt with 20 million+ viewers hanging on every word. Media types live in terror of the ‘awkward pause’ use that to make them sweat.
The entire electorate that could possibly be persuaded to support him would cheer him on.
Trump should do a Holy Grail King Arthur to the bridge troll, is it an African swallow?
We have had Media Q&A since 1964. It’s been over 50 years since we had a “debate” and I find it unlikely to change now.
I’m referring to Hewitt as the medieval bridge troll from here
Ted Cruz has never whined about “gotcha questions.” And he’s received many of them.
Trump is a whiner. Poor Trump. Everyone’s picking on him. Waaa. Pathetic.
We need a real statesman, not a whiner who destroys anyone who annoys him. We need Ted Cruz, not this pathetic bully Trump.
Hewitt has guests on his show who bash Trump, but when they ask him, he protests need for neutrality. Everyone almost except Mark Steyn, who is generally sympathetic to Trump much to Hewitt’s chagrin. Even Hewitt’s old frind Mark Levin was making fun of Hewitt’s who’s who questions calling every terrorist “Yabba dabba doo”, and to some extent defending Trump.
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