Donald Trump is blasting Hugh Hewitt after stumbling over foreign policy questions in an interview with the conservative radio host.
“[He is] a third-rate radio announcer,” Trump told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday morning.
Trump clashed with the radio host on Thursday evening’s “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” Hewitt began asking him what he called “commander-in-chief questions” about international affairs. The exchange became heated when Trump mistook a question about Iran’s Quds Force as a query about the Kurds.
On Friday, Trump said that the broadcaster’s show is beneath him despite his multiple appearances with Hewitt since launching his 2016 campaign in June. Trump said Hewitt was trying to embarrass him by asking about obscure topics.
“Every question was, ‘Do you know this one or know that one?’ ” Trump said.
“I do think the Kurds are not being utilized properly or being used properly,” he added.
Hewitt is also slated to co-moderate the second GOP debate on CNN on Sept. 16.
Reports emerged on Friday that Trump’s campaign staff are furious over Hewitt’s questioning of their candidate and is considering blacklisting him from future interviews.
“@HughHewitt producer says Trump’s team spitting fire over ‘gotcha’ FP Qs,” Townhall.com Political Editor Guy Benson tweeted. “Threatening to never do show again.”
Carly Fiorina, another Republican White House hopeful, capitalized on Trump’s confrontation with Hewitt by having a more cordial interview with the broadcaster later on Thursday night.
“I don’t think they’re ‘gotcha’ questions at all,” the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said of Hewitt’s questioning.
“The questions you’re asking are at the heart of the threat that we face, that our ally, Israel, faces and that that the world faces,” she told Hewitt.