CNN’s Chris Cuomo just invited Donald Trump’s spokeswoman to call him an idiot

It’s not easy to find new ways to question Donald Trump’s temperament, but CNN’s Chris Cuomo came up with a rather clever one  Wednesday: He asked

Trump’s spokeswoman, Katrina Pierson, why she doesn’t act more like her boss.

CUOMO: Katrina, when you don't like what I say, do you call me an idiot? No. Why not?

PIERSON: Do I? No.

CUOMO: Why is it okay for Mr. Trump to do it but not okay for you to do it with me? This is your chance. You don't like the reporting, you don't like how I put the questions, you're not going to call me something like that, right? Why is it okay for him to do it?

PIERSON: Well, it depends. If you're attacking me personally, I might call you an idiot. But you don't do that. And we are talking about the issues, and Mr. Trump is being attacked personally.

Cuomo’s point, of course, was that most presidential candidates — and even Trump’s own staffers — manage to control their tempers well enough to avoid name-calling. Trump, however, launches ad hominem attacks all the time, most recently when he called an ABC reporter a “sleaze”  Tuesday.

Cuomo put Pierson in a tough spot where she had to say that she would, in fact, be willing to emulate Trump’s tactics under the right circumstances. Because she couldn’t say she would never behave like the candidate she represents, right?

To further justify Trump’s nastiness, Pierson also had to claim that he only gets personal when someone else gets personal, first.

Apparently fact-checking Trump’s donation to veterans qualifies as a personal affront.

CNN’s S.E. Cupp put it best  Tuesday when she said Trump is “fundamentally confused about the role of free press.”

Cuomo’s question was a smart, non-confrontational way to show that Trump’s rudeness violates the basic standard of civility that his own spokeswoman adheres to. He concluded by explaining why the temperament issue matters.

“I don't care how he treats the media,” Cuomo said. “But when he deals with other people — we keep hearing from you and others, ‘He's not like this in private; he'll be different when dealing with other world leaders’ — where does the confidence come from, when we have never seen him treat anyone any differently than he treats opposition right now?”

source