President Donald Trump unleashed another diatribe against the media during a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday which included a crude attack on ‘little’ George Stephanopoulos.
‘All the networks, I mean CNN is really bad but ABC this morning – I don’t watch it much but I’m watching in the morning and they have little George Stephanopoulos talking to [US ambassador to the United Nations] Nikki Haley,’ Trump said.
The president then repeated the nickname ‘little George’. He also held his hand parallel to the ground as if to drive home the point that Stephanopoulos is short.
The broadside against Stephanopoulos was part of Trump’s rant in which he took the news media to task for its criticism of the president’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on April 12.
The president’s targets included past favorites like ‘the failing New York Times,’ ‘pathetic’ CNN, and ‘the lobbying tool for Amazon’ – The Washington Post.
President Donald Trump (left) unleashed another diatribe against the media during a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday which included a crude attack on ‘little’ George Stephanopoulos (right)
Both Amazon and the Post are owned by Jeff Bezos.
Trump accused the media of stoking hatred in the wake of the Charlottesville violence.
‘They’re bad people,’ the president said of journalists. ‘And I really think they don’t like our country. I really believe that.’
Trump’s attack on Stephanopoulos was a reaction to the ABC News anchor’s interview on Tuesday morning with Haley.
Stephanopoulos asked Haley for her reaction to the president’s comments in which he insisted that there were ‘very fine people’ among the white nationalists who staged the rally in Charlottesville and that ‘both sides’ were to blame for the violence.
‘I picked up the phone, and I had a private conversation with the president about Charlottesville, and it was taken very well,’ Haley told ABC News.
The UN ambassador said that Trump clarified his initial response ‘so that no one can question that he’s opposed to bigotry and hate in this country.’
Last month, it was reported that Good Morning America got a redesigned anchor desk earlier this summer, with two wide panels added to the front side of the set piece so that Stephanopoulos’ legs would be less prominent
Stephanopoulos’ height has reportedly been a sensitive subject at ABC News.
Last month, it was reported that Good Morning America got a redesigned anchor desk earlier this summer, with two wide panels added to the front side of the set piece.
That addition resulted in viewers no longer being able to see the legs of the ABC morning show’s hosts, which was exactly the point according to one source.
An insider tells Page Six that the panels were added so that George Stephanopoulos’ legs would be less prominent, adding that as the shortest of the three main hosts he looked ‘awkward’ at times.
‘He’s 5ft 7in and is dwarfed by human trees Robin Roberts (5ft-10) and Michael Strahan (6ft-5),’ said the insider.
‘GMA initially thought using an anchor desk with elevated chairs would help the problem. Still awkward, George’s little-boyish mini-legs were seen dangling.’