Paul Manafort Condemns Media for Taking 'Clinton Narrative' in Trump Coverage This Week

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday to discuss the Republican nominee's controversial comment about a "Second Amendment" solution to a Hillary Clinton Supreme Court selection.

.@PaulManafort : Trump's 2nd amendment comment not a threat https://t.co/vg5Ryvrtbv

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 14, 2016

Manafort told Host Jake Tapper that the comment was "not at all meant to be a threat" and condemned the media for making it the big story for days instead of Trump's economic speech.

"You could've covered what he was saying, or you could try and take an aside and take the Clinton narrative ... and you chose to do that instead," he said.

.@PaulManafort : Media coverage skewed https://t.co/e6whegxFFW

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 14, 2016

Manafort added that the media had "plenty of news to cover this week," offering examples such as new Clinton email releases and the terrorist attack on a NATO base in Turkey.

"You had a number of things that were appropriate to this campaign, were part of what Mr. Trump has been talking about," he continued. "Instead, you took an aside that the Clinton narrative told you was something, Mr. Trump told you he didn't mean, and you played it out for two days."

Tapper pushed back, noting that the network did cover Trump's speech, the Clinton emails and "the things that are bad to Hillary Clinton."

But Manafort stuck to his point that the amount of time devoted to Trump's Second Amendment remark was disproportionate to other coverage.