‘Baffles Me’: Mark Halperin Questions Why Trump Agreed To Interview With ‘Hostile’ ABC News Reporter

Political analyst Mark Halperin on Monday questioned why President Donald Trump accepted an interview with ABC News senior national correspondent Terry Moran.

Trump is slated to sit down for a Tuesday television interview with Moran in the Oval Office on the 100th day of his second term, according to ABC News. Halperin and co-host Sean Spicer suggested on “The Morning Meeting” that choosing Moran made little sense given what they characterized as his relative obscurity and bias against the president. (RELATED: DNC ‘Surprise’ That Wasn’t: How Media Helped Spread Totally Fake Rumor About Beyoncé)

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“I think the president clearly lost a bet of some sort, because I don’t know why. I mean, that to me, of all the people, Terry is probably the most biased of all the people, and that says something for ABC News,” Spicer said. “He is not exactly what I would call a player. So I find it odd that they went down to that level. I mean, he is not what you would consider a big-level reporter or personality. So I kind of find it insulting for the White House, to be honest with you.”

Halperin asserted he had watched ABC News’ “This Week” and seen “a promo for the interview” that did not identify Moran as the interviewer.

“It literally just said no one, it just said ABC has an interview,” he added. “So there’s something weird going on here.”

“Exactly. I mean, there’s something, like they know that most people don’t know who the guy is. I think he does a lot of their streaming now,” Spicer responded. “But anyway, I just — I thought it was an odd choice, and I also think it was odd for the White House to accept it because it’s not like he’s someone who is noted to have a relationship with the president or something.”

Halperin agreed with Spicer’s earlier comment that Moran is strongly “biased” against Trump. He said the ABC News reporter is nearly as anti-Trump as former CNN host Jim Acosta.

Former Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine chimed in to suggest there was a possibility the White House specifically requested Moran.

“I’m sure he’ll feel like he can dominate him,” Turrentine said.

“Well, maybe. Maybe. But here’s the thing with Terry, who used to be my colleague for a long time: Terry’s very smart,” Halperin responded. “So it’s sort of the worst combination as far as I’m concerned from the White House’s point of view. I don’t know why they’d accept Terry or certainly ask for him. He’s smart and hostile.”

Turrentine cast doubt on the idea that ABC News would enable Moran to be “hostile” after the network and one of its leading hosts, George Stephanopoulos, agreed in December to settle Trump’s defamation lawsuit against them.

However, Spicer and Halperin disagreed.

“Terry’s independent. I don’t know. The whole thing baffles me,” Halperin said.

Moran in February 2021 praised Democrats for their management of Trump’s impeachment trial for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“Whatever you think of this case, they’ve risen to the moment. This is an atrocity in our history, an atrocity against our democracy, and the care with which the Democratic House managers of this impeachment trial have come prepared, their argument is organized,” Moran said. “They’re ringing the notes of patriotism and the emotion of the attack itself, and surrounding that with what they hope is an evidentiary trail from Donald Trump to that attack. That is their challenge here.”

He also said that Trump “has the Republican Party as a personalized power” and likened it to him being a “caesar” or “fuhrer.”