'Truth must hurt': George Stephanopoulos slammed as he labels live airing of Donald Trump's interview as 'journalistic malpractice’

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: ABC News host George Stephanopoulos claimed that it was irresponsible for media outlets to air live television interviews of former President Donald Trump during a recent interview with Mediaite Editor-in-Chief Aidan McLaughlin, reported Fox News.

The remark from the former President Clinton's adviser came during the inaugural episode of ABC's 'Press Club' podcast, scheduled to be broadcast on Saturday, June 8.

The discussion between the two journalists focused on the media's coverage of the upcoming presidential election and how they should approach reporting on the presumptive GOP nominee.

The conversation surrounding Donald Trump

McLaughlin introduced the topic of Trump, asserting that the controversial businessman was challenging to manage because "I have long believed that Trump’s superpower lies in his lack of shame."

As Stephanopoulos seconded the observation, he continued, "And you see it when, you know, when he’ll be up on a town hall stage or a debate stage, or in an interview with a reporter, and he’ll say ‘Two plus two equals five,’ and he’ll get fact-checked and we’ll just keep barreling through. Or, when there’s a controversy and he doesn’t apologize for it when any other politician in the history of politics would."

Wrangling with Trump is "going to be a challenge" during the upcoming presidential debates, noted Stephanopoulos in his turn, before stating, "I mean, I think it’s journalistic malpractice to do a live interview with President Trump on television."

ABC is set to host the second presidential debate this year, after CNN. When McLaughlin asked about the clause in the debate's agreement which states that a speaker's mic can be cut off if he speaks out of turn in the event, Stephanopoulos said, "I think that helps a bit. I don’t know exactly how the mic thing is going to work. But I do think that those conditions help a bit. But it’s still a very, very complicated thing to do."

He added that Trump's technique involves continuously "changing the subject... I think that’s something that has always been perilous, you know, a challenge for interviewers. But the same thing will happen in the debate."

Internet calls out George Stephanopoulos for his take

"Employing Stephanopoulos is journalistic malpractice," wrote a user responding to the anchor's statements over the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

"When you can't control the interview you edit - The Stephanopoulos interview tactic - it's all in the editing," slammed another.

"Well, that's because they now equate 'journalism' with 'projecting a narrative,' and if they show Trump live, their narrative and lies fall apart," commented a user.

"He is no longer a journalist. He is part of the far left agenda," jibed a user.

"Truth must hurt," chided a user.

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