Reporters try to shame Kellyanne Conway over 'quip' remark, step on a rake instead

Lots of people are mad at Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway for saying on “Morning Joe” on Monday that Donald Trump’s plan to order a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was a “quip.”

Politico’s Blake Hounshell, for example (this was retweeted by BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith):

Kellyanne Conway said Trump’s threat to jail Clinton was just a “quip” https://t.co/4y1BY3MPIT

— Blake News (@blakehounshell) October 10, 2016

And now for the mic-drop from Kellyanne — it’s not her word, it’s from NBC:

@blakehounshell @BuzzFeedBen got the "quip" word from crack reporting at https://t.co/PqfRF5yp0y. See here, line 2. https://t.co/Jhtc5YMCgQ https://t.co/N3GN3wNI92

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 10, 2016

What’s worse for Hounshell is that the article he linked to in Politico actually puts “quip” in context:

“That was a quip. And I saw in NBC’s own reporting it was referred to as a quip, so I’ll go with NBC on it. He had already finished his statement. She said something like ‘that’s why you’ll never be president,’ and he said ‘you’d be in jail.’ And so that was his answer,” Conway said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Here are more journos taking issue with NBC’s choice of language, but blaming Kellyanne for it:

https://twitter.com/PoliticoRyan/status/785475040519266304

a presidential candidate threatening to jail his opponent. a quip! https://t.co/D16WGIf2dH

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 10, 2016

Recommended

Wander and Wonder: Joe Biden Abandoned on Stage at Obama Library Opening - Where Was Jill Biden?

Warren Squire

Advertisement

You know, how we all often quip about jailing people we don't like! So relatable. https://t.co/7pZUYgJ2vk

— Kevin O’Keeffe ? (@kevinpokeeffe) October 10, 2016

But @KellyannePolls says it was a joke! A really funny quip! https://t.co/hyN2OsI8CJ

— Mary Beth Schneider (@marybschneider) October 10, 2016

WATCH: Kellyanne Conway shrugs off #Trump’s call to jail Clinton as a ‘quip’ https://t.co/ju8rEo61tr pic.twitter.com/47R1h5oVAg

— Raw Story (@RawStory) October 10, 2016

Trump aide dismisses as 'quip' his threat to jail Clinton https://t.co/xigYGFM9mb pic.twitter.com/fxG0EBekfW

— CTV News (@CTVNews) October 10, 2016

Can a quip be delivered with menace and a sneer? https://t.co/Ef4911GjXK

— jodyseaborn (@jodyseaborn) October 10, 2016

***

Related:

Frank Luntz says this was Donald Trump’s best moment of the debate, contrary to the pundits