It Does Seem a Little Bit Like 'Spin": Host Chris Wallace Presses Trump Campaign Aide to Explain Controversial 'Playing a Part' Comments

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace pressed Donald Trump's new campaign chief Sunday to explain the reasoning behind his recent controversial comments claiming that Trump is "playing a part" and will evolve to fit his various roles.

Chris Wallace (Image source: YouTube)

Wallace asked Paul Manafort to explain his remarks made during one of the Republican National Committee's spring meetings that were leaked later in an audio recording, according to ABC News. In the recording, Manafort can be heard saying, "The part [Trump's] been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting but he wasn't ready for because he had to, first, complete the first phase. You'll start to see more depth to the person, the real person. You'll see him in a different way."

Wallace pressed Manafort, saying, "'Playing a part’? See the real person?' Trump has been campaigning for ten months now and we haven’t seen the real man?"

Manafort explained that his quotes had been taken out of context and insisted that he meant to contrast how Trump presented himself in one setting with how he presented himself in another.

Paul Manafort (Image source: YouTube)

"We were evolving the campaign, not the candidate," Manafort clarified.

But Wallace seemed skeptical of this explanation.

"Forgive me, it does seem a little bit like 'spin.' Because, I mean, the words, 'the part that he has been playing,' 'you'll start to see more depth to the person, the real person,' you're not talking about rallies versus some other setting."

Manafort responded, saying, "I was talking about rallies versus some other setting."

Wallace quipped, "That's not what you said."

Manafort replied, "Well, in the context of that room, that's what I said, and that's what was understood. When it was taken out of context and the question that was asked to me wasn't prefaced with my answer, you get a distorted thing."

On Saturday, Trump himself had responded to Manafort's leaked comments during a rally in Connecticut.

"So what [Manafort] did is took it and said, 'he will change and he won't build a wall and he won't do this,'" Trump said, according to ABC News. "Everything I said I’m going to do, folks, I do, OK? Believe me. I do."

Watch Wallace's interview with Manafort below.

(H/T: Mediaite)

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