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I Didn’t Ask Trump 'Gotcha Questions'
Politico ^ | 9/5/15 | HUGH HEWITT

Posted on 09/07/2015 5:37:33 AM PDT by jimbo123

The late, great writer and reporter Michael Kelly was a guest on my radio show almost weekly from its debut in July of 2000 through his death outside of Baghdad in April 2003. So was Christopher Hitchens—more than 70 times in fact—until his death in late 2011. Kelly always emphasized that journalism was a “craft,” not a profession and Hitchens that it was very much a moral crusade. I think it is both, and more. It is part of a functioning, free democratic Republic, and its practitioners must not be intimidated.

The very best journalists—those who go to the front lines of combat like Kelly and Hitchens, John Fisher Burns, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Dexter Filkins, Robert Kaplan, David Kirkpatrick, Thomas Ricks and scores of others routinely ask tough questions of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines they cover, from the privates to the generals. These journalists set a standard for desk jockeys like me who cover politics and public policy but who have never been remotely in harm’s way. I think we who work from the comfort of studios owe it to the public generally, and specifically to men and women deployed at the tips of various spears around the world, to ask would-be presidents how they will conduct themselves as Commander-in-Chief.

In the weeks since the first GOP presidential debate I have conducted 30 interviews with would-be nominees. Some have been prickly. (John Kasich as my home state governor seems particularly entitled to mock me and my questions, which is fine by me. He is a Steelers fan after all.) In my view all 30 have been fair. Some disagree about my Thursday interview with Donald Trump, the fourth I conducted with him in the past month. Other earlier interviews from the spring have also caused other candidates

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cino; gope; hewitt4amnesty; hewitt4illegals; hewitt4jeb; rino; rnc
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To: jimbo123

What a bunch of blather. He admitted to working around his questions to Christie so as not to put him on the spot, but he didn’t repeat his questions to Trump, because they were clearly gotcha questions of a different variety than any he has put to the other candidates and has put up here in his lame defense of his foul behavior—which Trump rightly called him on.

Oh, and by the way, it is repugnant of him to evoke a dead journalist who covered war zones, somehow suggesting that his questions were of equal quality and type to those of the deceased in a very different environment and of a very different nature.


41 posted on 09/07/2015 6:11:20 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: SnuffaBolshevik

Oh, that was great—laughing almost too hard to type!


42 posted on 09/07/2015 6:14:48 AM PDT by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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To: jimbo123

Isn’t he the same tool who had essence of Mitt dripping from his chin during the entire 2012 campaign? He is little more than a shill for the establishment.


43 posted on 09/07/2015 6:15:25 AM PDT by Buckeye Battle Cry (Hillary - Ethically sleazy and politically stupid)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

No I can’t but I’m not trying to bluff my way into the white house. It might work with the stupid but intelligent people knew that the guys named were already dead.

It isn’t going to get any easier.


44 posted on 09/07/2015 6:16:57 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.)
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To: miss marmelstein

45 posted on 09/07/2015 6:20:55 AM PDT by TexasCajun (#BlackViolenceMatters)
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To: miss marmelstein

I think he’s closer in looks to scumbag Phil Donahue.


46 posted on 09/07/2015 6:24:08 AM PDT by csvset ( Illegitimi non carborundum)
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To: jimbo123
May this vile mediot pundiot be a miserable loser as Donald becomes a president for two terms.
47 posted on 09/07/2015 6:24:25 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Trump, causes Berserk Trump Derangement Syndrome, aka, BTDS! Trump/Cruz 2016/2020! Then Cruz!)
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To: 9YearLurker
Disclaimer: I'm a long-time Hewitt listener. I heard the above-mentioned interview, and no way was this a set-up to 'get"; Trump. It was clear that Trump initially misunderstood the question, and got upset when he realized he had made a mistake. All he would have had to do was say: Sorry, I misheard your question. The fact that Trump subsequently has to go around insulting Hewitt says volumes about HIS temperament and appropriateness as Commander-In_Chief. What, he gets pissed-off over his own mistake and bombs the Kurds instead of the quds? No thanks, Donald!
48 posted on 09/07/2015 6:24:47 AM PDT by Wheelman81
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To: Tailback

Roughly 2,900 FPS. At least that’s what my chronograph says.

L


49 posted on 09/07/2015 6:27:16 AM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: TexasCajun
Are you kidding, Bernie Sanders is lucky if he can remember what planet he lives on.

My wife says he is the Bad Grandpa.

I finally figured out that she was talking about the Johnny Knoxville character, Old Irving Zisman.

As apt of a comparison as any, I suppose.

50 posted on 09/07/2015 6:27:48 AM PDT by OldSmaj (obama is a worthless mohametan. Impeach his ass now!)
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To: jimbo123
The GOPe Amnesty Pimps and their cabanas boys in the “conservative” media are melting down thanks to Trump. Their desperation is sad and hilarious at the same time.

well said

51 posted on 09/07/2015 6:27:49 AM PDT by samtheman (2014: Voters elect Repubs to congress... 2015: Repubs defund NOTHING... 2016: Trump/(Cruz or Palin))
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To: samtheman

You realize that he wasn’t just asking for the names, right? That he was asking about Trump’s opinion on the Iran deal, and its impact on the Quads force (Iran’s main terror group). Hardly ridiculous.


52 posted on 09/07/2015 6:28:01 AM PDT by Conscience of a Conservative
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To: jimbo123

This fourth rate whining mediot pundiot had to go to Politico, a George $oreA$$ funded left wing prop agit posing as a news organization.


53 posted on 09/07/2015 6:28:25 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Trump, causes Berserk Trump Derangement Syndrome, aka, BTDS! Trump/Cruz 2016/2020! Then Cruz!)
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To: jimbo123

The second set of questions Kelly asked was a personal attack on Trump and had no business even being posed period. In fact it was a distraction and a disservice to the viewer.


54 posted on 09/07/2015 6:30:19 AM PDT by mosesdapoet (My best insights get lost in FR's because of meaningless venting no one reads.)
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To: olezip

Trun about is fair play

In a public setting on air or in response to one of his stump-the-dummy questions, ask Hugh who the president of the Society of Professional Journalists is? Then follow it up with a specific question regarding the Journalism Code of Ethics, the Society maintains.

He should know that right? If he doesn’t, he can’t possible be a real journalist. Right Trump haters?

https://www.spj.org/spjboard.asp
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp


55 posted on 09/07/2015 6:30:20 AM PDT by Eddie01 (The Summer of Trump, the Fall of Bush)
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To: Eddie01

Turn


56 posted on 09/07/2015 6:30:40 AM PDT by Eddie01 (The Summer of Trump, the Fall of Bush)
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To: Wheelman81

If you are a long time Hewitt listener you must know he has been on board The Cheap Labor Express for years. He is an amnesty shill.


57 posted on 09/07/2015 6:31:25 AM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: jimbo123
Hewitt must be feeling a great deal of heat if he feels the need to defend himself.

Trump didn't respond correctly. Sarah Palin has the right answer to all of that. We don't need a trivia wizard for President. Trump can talk about the big terrorist problem and big any kind of problem.

He can say as CEO he will get advice from people paid to keep track or the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas and Abu Sayyaff, the IRA, Sendero Luminoso, the KKK and any other group that ever wanted to profit from others' misery.

My guess is Trump will disappoint his supporters with or without Hewitt's help. Rather than feeling the need to defend himself, Hewitt should concentrate of pointing to the elephants in the room when questioning the people he really does support such as Jeb Bush, John Kasich and that ilk.

The main reason Trump is so politically popular is because people like me are sick to the core of that ilk.

58 posted on 09/07/2015 6:32:37 AM PDT by stevem
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To: Wheelman81

A long time Hewitt listen—just the resource we need. What is the most difficult question Hewitt has ever asked 1, a leading Dem candidate, and 2, a favored GOPe candidate (for example, Romney).


59 posted on 09/07/2015 6:36:00 AM PDT by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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To: Conscience of a Conservative

Perhaps you can help with a question I asked up thread. Namely, is Hawaii in Asia or not? (I called it a gotcha question, but maybe that’s an exaggeration.)


60 posted on 09/07/2015 6:38:35 AM PDT by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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