Kellyanne Conway’s Laughable ‘Look at What’s in His Heart’ Defense of Donald Trump
Kellyanne Conway has a prescription for what ails the media’s relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. In defending Trump’s months-old mocking of a disabled reporter, Trump’s senior adviser said we need to look into Trump’s heart.
“Why don’t you believe him? Why is everything taken at face value?” Conway asked CNN’s Chris Cuomo while talking about Meryl Streep’s criticism of Trump at Sunday’s Golden Globes.
She continued: “You can’t give him the benefit of the doubt on this, and he’s telling you what was in his heart? You always want to go by what’s come out of his mouth rather than look at what’s in his heart.”
The short answer to Conway’s question is no, we can’t give him the benefit of the doubt because of what’s in his heart. We can’t do this because the evidence so clearly shows a presidential candidate mocking a reporter’s physical disability. But mostly we can’t do this because we don’t know what’s in his heart, and any attempt to figure that out would amount to a value judgment.
Think about it: If reporters are suddenly deputized to give the benefit of the doubt to politicians whose hearts they’ve evaluated as being good, there is basically no end to what that politician will be allowed to do. It’s a totally unworkable standard for anyone involved (and probably one that Republicans wouldn’t like). Conway is essentially asking for a permanent “Get Out of Jail Free” card because Trump has, in her estimation, a good heart.
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