Trump mocks 'little' George Stephanopoulos, doubles down on ABC bias claims
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}George Stephanopoulos interviews Donald Trump on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," on July 31. (ABC)
President Trump didn't miss an opportunity to poke fun at "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos during his rally in Phoenix, AZ, on Tuesday.
Trump twice called the journalist "little" during the event, poking fun at Stephanopoulos' short stature during a lengthy rant against the mainstream media.
Co-hosts (from l-r) George Stephanopoulos, Cokie Roberts and Matt Dowd discuss the final presidential debate on "Good Morning America," Thursday, October 20, 2016. (ABC)
Before singling out Stephanopoulos, Trump called out the "failing New York Times" and "pathetic" CNN, and slammed the Washington Post which he called a "lobbying tool for Amazon."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump then trained his sights on ABC, likening them to his favorite media bias punching bag.
"I mean CNN is really bad, but ABC this morning," Trump said. "I don’t watch it much but I’m watching in the morning and they have little George Stephanopoulos talking to Nikki Haley.”
He then repeated "little George."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump's jab is nothing Stephanopoulos hasn't heard before. Rumors have long-swirled that the ABC journalist's height has even caused issues on the set of "GMA."
According to Page Six, producers struggled when trying to figure out a way to hide the height difference between Stephanopoulos and his very tall co-stars.
From l-r: Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, guest Kerry Washington, George Stephanopoulos and Lara Spender on "Good Morning America," Wednesday, May 17, 2017. (ABC)
Michael Strahan is 6' 5" and Robin Roberts is 5' 10".
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stephanopoulos clocks in 5' 5", a full foot shorter than Strahan, a former defense end of the New York Giants.
"'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," an insider told Page Six in July.
Page Six also reported in 2010 that Roberts chose to wear high heels as a "sign of power" to tower over Stephanopoulos.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump's beef with Stephanopoulos goes back a ways. The then GOP presidential nominee slammed Stephanopoulos during a 2016 "GMA" interview over the anchor's reported $75,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation.
Stephanopoulos worked to elect Bill Clinton and was his communications director in the White House.
ABC said in a statement at the time: "As George has said, he made charitable donations to the Foundation to support a cause he cares about deeply and believed his contributions were a matter of public record. He should have taken the extra step to notify us and our viewers during the recent news reports about the Foundation. He’s admitted to an honest mistake and apologized for that omission. We stand behind him."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This isn't the only bad press ABC has gotten recently. ESPN, which is owned by ABC's parent company Disney, came under fire after they removed an Asian American announcer named Robert Lee from the University of Virginia's football season opener because he has the same name as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
ABC has also been plagued by accusations of liberal bias after the network canceled its second-highest rated comedy "Last Man Standing" in May.
The network defended its decision to ax the Tim-Allen starring sitcom saying it was a "scheduling decision."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They also came under fire for referring to the religious freedom law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, an "anti-LGBT hate group" in July.