Watch Donald Trump top advisor meltdown over dictatorship “facts”

A journalist asking a simple question to a top political advisor and not getting a straight answer. That’s dog bites man territory, right? A journalist continuing to pursue the required yes/no response despite the attempts to evade, distract and obfuscate. Well, that’s what we should expect but much more rarely see.

Step forward José María Del Pino, a Washington D.C correspondent, who asked Stephen Miller, one of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s top advisors, whether he trusted the figures he was citing in a comparison of crime rates in Venezuela and the United States. These statistics were the ones reported by the country’s government, under the rule of president Nicolás Maduro, the dictator holding onto power despite evidence pointing to him having lost, by a considerable margin, the recent national elections.

Watch and listen as Miller’s temper boils over, seemingly surprised that he was being held to account for what he had said, something that seems to be a challenge across Trump’s campaign.

On the back of this interview, various invitations to appear on other television networks arrived. Del Pino declined, but published an explanation for his decision.

Representing the Fourth Estate

“I want to take 30 seconds, at my home, with my family - the NTN24 family - to tell you that yesterday, an interview I conducted with Stephen Miller, former President Donald Trump’s top advisor on immigration, went viral. I received several invitations during the day from the major television networks in the United States to attend evening shows. I declined them all.

“And I want to tell our audience why I declined: I think the interview speaks for itself. Journalists have a mission: to ask questions. We are never the news. What Mr. Miller has or has not said is for you as an audience to judge. We have fulfilled the mission you have given us, which is to ask uncomfortable questions and hold the power accountable.”

Republicans spinning after Trump loses debate to Harris

This, of course, comes on the back of the televised debate between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, which Trump himself praised as one of his best. Several Republican officials, donors, and advisers, however, have criticised his performance which saw Harris aggressively challenge Trump, forcing him on the defensive, while his responses were riddled with inaccuracies and very questionable facts.

Prominent Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham and Chris Christie felt Trump had missed opportunities and was unprepared. And while some advisers doubted the debate would significantly impact polling, interviews with undecided voters showed mixed results. Harris’ campaign has pushed for a second debate, but Trump has, maybe wisely, since ruled it out.