White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was asked four times by Fox News on Thursday morning to “flat-out” refute claims from Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that President Donald Trump was fully “aware” of what he was up to in Ukraine. She didn’t give a straight answer once.
After Fox aired a clip of Parnas’ interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow from Wednesday night, they asked her to refute his central claims. Conway first tried to laugh it off, joking with no sense of irony, “Remember, people who go on TV are never under oath.” Meanwhile, the Trump White House has blocked witnesses from testifying under oath and criticized the credibility of those who have.
But that argument didn’t satisfy Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer, who repeatedly grilled Conway on the substance of what Parnas was saying.
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“Are you saying flat-out, 100 percent what he alleges is not true, yes or no?” Hemmer asked.
Instead of answering yes or no, Conway went on to offer up an “objection” to the idea that Parnas could know Trump was aware of his movements. “You cannot say what someone else knew or thought,” she said. “That was a TV show, not a court of law.”
As she continued to filibuster, Hemmer interrupted her. “But back on Parnas, cut through it: Is he lying or not, Kellyanne?”
“He’s a proven liar, he’s been indicted,” she answered, again without addressing the specific claims about Trump.
Moments later, Hemmer’s co-host Sandra Smith jumped in as well. “Just to finish on that point, it’s a yes or no question,” she said. “‘Trump knew exactly what was going on,’ said Lev Parnas, and we’re asking, is that statement true or false?”
“Trump knew what was going on how?” Conway said, answering the true or false question with a question of her own. “In other words, what is Lev Parnas actually saying?”
It was her fourth time refusing to answer the question and ultimately the Fox hosts had no choice but to move on.
