Even the unflappable Wolf Blitzer seemed taken aback last Wednesday when the woman he was interviewing opined that “riots aren’t necessarily a bad thing if it means sitting there and fighting the fact that our establishment Republican Party has gone corrupt and decided to ignore the voice of the people and ignore the process.”
The speaker was radio host Scottie Nell Hughes, and CNN labeled her simply as “Donald Trump supporter.”
Hughes, who first appeared on the national stage defending gun rights after the Sandy Hook shooting, is part of a zestful bunch of fresh voices appearing on cable news. They were elevated to A-list status for the simple reason that they favor the candidate that most Republican talking heads abhor.
Their ranks include a reality TV star, a conservative columnist who’s broken with the pack, and an outspoken ex-Navy SEAL. And while their relationship to the Trump campaign ranges from loose to very loose they do share their favored candidate’s penchant for eye-popping comments.
Blitzer isn’t the only cable host to be brought up short by a Trump supporter. Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo seemed briefly horrified when reality TV icon Omarosa Manigault commented that Fox contributor Tamara Holder had “big boobs.”
“Wait a second! Why are you bringing up Tamara's boobs? I don’t understand why you brought up Tamara’s boobs?” Bartiromo interjected.
But these days, with Trump steamrolling to the Republican nomination while so many party regulars oppose him, the cable networks have little choice but to look outside their comfort zone for speakers: They have almost endless hours of airtime to fill, and most of their regular conservative commentators – the ones kept on a retainer to be available at odd hours – are arrayed against the billionaire businessman.
The result is something quite different from networks where debate rarely gets any sharper than S.E. Cupp wagging a finger at Donna Brazile, as they and others sit comfortably together behind a curved anchor desk. Complicating matters is the fact that Trump’s unconventional campaign almost never provides any talking points, giving his campaign surrogates the freedom to say whatever they please. And the result is often the verbal equivalent of an anarchic Trump rally, in the anything-goes style of their leader.
"They don’t want people scripted -- they want people to say what they mean or mean what they say,” said Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL who published a book about his service which drew the ire of the Navy. He was asked to join the campaign as an unpaid surrogate over the summer, and said he loves the freedom of being able to say whatever he wants in defense of Trump.
“They’ve never called me up or correct anything. They know I speak from the heart and know I believe in him they let me have free range,” Higbie said, noting that he has never met Trump.
While the Trump surrogates usually don’t have the same level of political experience or credibility as the regular pundits, networks defend their presence on the air by saying they need to capture the Trump phenomenon, and that requires true-believing Trump supporters.
One CNN producer, speaking on background, said the network would often prefer an official campaign spokesperson such as Katrina Pierson over one of the surrogates any day. But if Pierson isn’t available, the network doesn’t want to shortchange the Trump voters while CNN’s regular Republican contributors, such as Cupp, Ana Navarro, and Kevin Madden are hostile to Trump.
Spokespeople for CNN did not respond to requests for comment, but the network has at least two paid contributors who are brought in to represent Trump's side, former Reagan White House political director Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany, a lawyer and conservative columnist who did not respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for MSNBC and Fox News said they do not have any Trump supporters among their paid contributors, although they do invite surrogates on to convey the Trump viewpoint.
That’s what’s opened the door for Hughes, whose web site identifies her as a “journalist and patriot.” She made a name for herself in conservative circles by stepping forward in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings to talk about an older brother she never knew. He had been shot to death by another child before she was born.
“It wasn’t the gun,” she told Piers Morgan on CNN. “It was evil.”
In a POLITICO interview, Hughes explained that she’s good friends with Pierson, Trump’s official spokesperson, and, though she was unsure about Trump at first, signed on as a surrogate after reading through his policies and being approached by the campaign at the end of July. By September, she was joining Trump on a trip to Dallas and introducing him at one of his first mega-rallies.
“I’ve never been one of those who wants VIP access,” Hughes said, emphasizing she has never received a “penny” from Trump and that she spends so many hours doing media hits -- she was on CNN 34 times last month – purely for the good of the cause. “It’s not about monetizing, it’s just getting more people involved."
In a follow up email after her interview with Blitzer, Hughes acknowledged sometimes regretting her answers.
"I am far from perfect when giving answers and I will admit I have gone home and cried a few tears when I didn't choose the best words to express my opinion,” Hughes said.
And Hughes said she doesn’t always agree with Trump, though she emphasized that as an unpaid, unofficial campaign surrogate, she shares her views privately so as not to interfere with the campaign’s messaging.
"Of course I have found myself disagreeing with the campaign at different points, both on issues, verbiage and strategies. No one should ever agree with a candidate on 100 percent of the issues 100 percent of the time -- and honest candidates should not wish for supporters to just blindly follow them,” Hughes said.
Like Hughes, Higbie, who has a new book coming out called "Enemies, Foreign & Domestic: A SEAL’s Story,” said that while his frequent appearances on behalf of Trump have raised his profile, the hours spent touting the billionaire haven’t paid off monetarily.
“It's actually been a financial downfall, which I’m happy to take to get the right person in office,” Higbie said.
David Wohl, a California attorney who was also an occasional contributor to Fox News, said he started liking Trump’s platform when the mogul first launched his campaign and was especially active in supporting Trump on Twitter.
That led to even more bookings in the last few months, especially with Megyn Kelly, the Fox anchor who’s a frequent target of Trump’s online vitriol. Earlier this month on Kelly’s show, Wohl defended Trump’s call to punch protestors.
"That may be a little bit harsh for some, but in essence, Megyn, he’s saying that ‘You know what, protect me, we’re all one, we’re unified, people together and if someone’s going to hit any of us or assault me, then take him out,’ ” Wohl said to a skeptical Kelly. "It’s a little bit harsh but you know what? People appreciate it and people love him for it. That’s the reality."
Wohl said in an interview that he does not coordinate his TV appearances with the campaign, but would happily work for the campaign if asked.
"I’ve exchanged emails with [Trump spokeswoman] Hope Hicks and she just says that [Trump] really likes my work is a fan, but they haven’t done [any coordination] at all,” Wohl said. “I’ve never met him or spoken with him never gotten any tips from campaign."
But when Trump tweets about him, it makes a difference.
“Trump tweeted a big thank you to me, saying 'you were great,' so that went completely insane, got thousands of retweets for days,” Wohl said. “That was a lot of fun … the sign of appreciation was really cool."
In the meantime, Lord, the ex-political director in the Reagan administration, has become one of the most ubiquitous of the Trump surrogates on television, partly due to his bona fide White House credentials. He was hired by CNN in August, at the recommendation of Trump himself, Lord said, and appears on the network nearly every other day.
Lord made headlines earlier this month when he and fellow CNN contributor Van Jones got into a heated debate over the KKK and race, as Lord defended Trump from accusations he was stirring up racial tensions.
"You are dividing people -- this is what liberals do -- you are dividing people by race. This is what liberalism is all about,” Lord said.
Lord, now a political strategist and conservative columnist, wrote a widely discussed article for The American Spectator headlined “Yes Trump Can Win" back in July. Lord praised CNN for treating him fairly and also said that though he's spoken with Trump and interacts with the campaign staff, there's no coordination with the campaign.
"If I had any credibility it would be totally blown if that were the case," Lord said. “One of the reasons I wanted to do this is I’ve become tired of seeing these Trump supporters who show up at these rallies being described as a bunch of bigots and racists and xenophobes. These are good decent people who want the best for the country."
In November, Lord was approached by Regnery Publishing to write a book about Trump, which he turned around in less than a month. The book is called "What America Needs, the Case for Trump."
Boston Herald columnist and radio host Adriana Cohen said she had been on television previously as a general political commentator, and only become a Trump supporter in the past month or so after having interviewed nearly all of the candidates. Afterwards, her number of TV hits increased.
“Trump is a change agent, he’s a disruptor, totally an outsider so people like me are saying we’ve already tried politicians so many times, nothing has changed so that’s how I became a Trump supporter,” Cohen, who said she’s appeared on Fox 150 times, said in an interview.
Cohen said she also is not in contact with the Trump campaign for talking points, though the campaign has reached out to her and provided feedback when she’s been on television. She said she did not know if ratings increased for her radio station since becoming a Trump supporter.
"I don’t agree with everything that Trump says but that would be the same thing with all the politicians,” Cohen said. “I don’t look for perfection in a political candidate, I just find who has the most of what you’re looking for in terms of their issues. I’m not a one issue voter. He just happens to have the most in the column for me."