Continuing her post-truth crusade of alternative facts, Kellyanne Conway is now claiming that the misleading video edit shared by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week of an interaction between CNN reporter Jim Acosta and a White House aide was “not altered,” just “sped up.”
Responding to a question from Chris Wallace during an appearance on Fox News Sunday about the White House’s decision to tweet a video manipulated to make the incident appear to be “more of a physical confrontation than it really was,” as well as its decision to pull Acosta’s press credentials, Conway responded: “Well Chris, first of all, what do you mean by edited or as others are saying ‘doctored’ video? He either put his hands on her and grabbed the mic back or he did not, and he clearly did.”
When pushed further by Wallace about the fact that the video was manipulated by speeding the interaction up, Conway responded: “Oh, well that’s not altered, that’s sped up. They do it all the time in sports to see if there’s actually a first down or a touchdown.”
While seemingly rebuking Sanders’ decision to tweet a video he described as “clearly altered,” Wallace also described Acosta’s behavior “inappropriate.” Since the incident, he’s been a vocal critic of Acosta’s interaction with the president that preceded the confrontation. Speaking on the Daily Briefing with Dana Perino last week, Wallace said Acosta “embarrassed himself” and that he “makes it awfully hard to have journalistic solidarity.”
The incident in question occurred last week after Acosta, who has a history of pissing President Donald Trump off for doing his job, pressed the president on his mischaracterization in a political ad of the migrant caravan as an invasion rather than people seeking asylum. (The ad was so racist even Fox News pulled it.) As Acosta attempted to ask another question, Trump refused to answer and the aide went to grab the mic, which Acosta at first refused to hand over as he attempted to question the president about the Russia investigation. After calling the investigation a hoax, Trump then lost his temper.
“CNN should be ashamed of itself for having you working for them,” the president said. “You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.”
The White House later revoked Acosta’s hard pass and has since clenched on to the idea that Acosta physically assaulted the aide. Sanders tweeted the manipulated video Wednesday, writing the White House stood by its decision to pull Acosta’s credentials and that it would “not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”
CNN released a statement on Wednesday calling the move “retaliation for [Acosta’s] challenging questions” and saying Sanders “lied” in her explanation for the pull.
“She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened,” CNN said. “This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.”
This all appears to be willfully lost on Conway, who can’t seem to stop manipulating truth to maintain favor with another known liar.