Donald Trump is lashing out at "third-rate" radio host Hugh Hewitt for posing so-called "gotcha" questions his radio show Thursday night.
Just hours after Trump scolded Hewitt on his own show, the billionaire real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate went on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and, in keeping with his blunt reputation, didn't hold anything back.
“When you say Kurds vs. Quds, I thought he said ‘Kurds,’ this third-rate radio show announcer that I did his show," Trump told the morning show panel. "And it was like ‘got you, got you, got you,’ and every question is, do I know this one, and that one."
"You know he worked hard on that," Trump added.
Donald Trump, president and chief executive officer of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, during an interview on Bloomberg Television's 'With All Due Respect' at the Trump Bar of the Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The current Republican presidential frontrunner was referring to an interview he did with Hewitt in which the radio announcer asked him about the "Quds" forces the Middle East. Trump later said he thought Hewitt said "Kurds."
Here's the exchange, via Mediaite:
Hugh Hewitt: Are you familiar with General Soleimani?Donald Trump: Yes… but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me.
HH: He runs the Quds Forces.
DT: Yes, okay, right.
HH: Do you expect his behavior —
DT: The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by —
HH: No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces, the bad guys.
DT: Yes, yes. Right.
HH: Do you expect his behavior to change as a result…
DT: Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.
HH: No, Quds.
DT: Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you said Kurds, because I think the Kurds have been poorly treated by us, Hugh. Go ahead.
Hewitt went on to ask Trump about Hassan Nasrallah, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu Mohammad al-Julani and Abu Bakr al-Baghdad. Trump admitted that he didn't know who the people were, but that it didn't matter because “by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed, they’ll be all gone.”
Trump then accused Hewitt of asking a "gotcha" question, but the radio show host denied that it was intended as such.
“Well, it sounded like gotcha. You’re asking me names that — I think it’s somewhat ridiculous, but that’s okay," Trump said.
But Trump wasn't the only one who thought Hewitt's question was a "gotcha" moment.
CNN senior political analyst David Gergen and Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera have both suggested the questions were intended to slip-up the 2016 candidate, Mediaite reported.
The tense radio interview came just days ahead of the Sept. 16 Republican primary debate, which Hewitt is set to help moderate on CNN along with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
But the conservative radio announcer has insisted that his recent quarrel with Trump won't affect which questions are asked that night.
“His critique won't change my debate questions or prep,” Hewitt told The Huffington Post on Friday.
Watch the MSNBC segment below:
(H/T: Mediaite)
–
Follow Jon Street (@JonStreet) on Twitter
