Washington Free Beacon digital managing editor Andrew Stiles appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources on Sunday to discuss the subject dominating political discussions for the past week: Donald Trump and his controversial remarks about banning Muslims from entering the United States.
Host Brian Stelter brought up the story first reported by his colleague Dylan Byers as a major scoop in October: That Stiles had donated more than $500 to the Trump campaign, with his occupation listed as #1 TRUMP FAN in the FEC filing. Only later did Byers realize that the donation was for a tongue-in-cheek purchase of Trump's famous Make America Great Hats for Free Beacon staffers, and that Stiles often pens satirical articles criticizing Trump and his blustering style.
"As someone at the Free Beacon, are you sensing pushback against Trump now from conservative media circles? You famously bought your staff the Make America Great Hats a few months back, but times have changed," Stelter said.
Stiles said that Trump's latest headline-grabbing moment was starting to wear thin.
"I think a lot of people and a lot of conservatives too were entertained, amused by Trump, when he first got in the race," Stiles said. "It's becoming a lot less funny now with his kind-of blatant fear-mongering and ban on Muslims. It's not as funny anymore, and I think you're starting to see a lot of people get fed up ... It's totally fair for the media to call him out on this. Unfortunately, the practical impact is that a lot of people supporting Trump just don't trust the media, and it's going to make them like Trump even more."
After Nevada journalist Jon Ralston said later in the segment that no one should have ever thought Trump was amusing, Stelter asked Stiles to respond.
"During the debates for example, when he makes fun of Rand Paul for even being on the stage and his tendency to criticize people blatantly, unlike any politicians," Stiles said. "His ability to say anything was, when he first got into the race, at least a little refreshing and kind of amusing. And then, once he started actually proposing policies, I'd say it got a little more real and less entertaining."