Update: Cal Cunningham Holds Afternoon Presser, Does Himself No Favors - Even Upsets the Media

AP Photo/Gerry Broome
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham speaks to supporters during a primary election night party in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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Scandal-plagued North Carolina Democrat Senate nominee Cal Cunningham held a Zoom “presser” in the last hour in which he spent 30 minutes talking with constituents about his Republican opponent Sen. Thom Tillis’s alleged “failures” on the COVID relief bill, and only 10 minutes taking questions from reporters.

I say “taking questions from” because he didn’t actually answer any of the questions he was asked about the sexting/affairs scandals from the few reporters who were granted the opportunity to do so. Instead, he repeatedly talked about how he had “apologized for all the hurt I’ve caused” before trying to pivot back to Tillis.

Cunningham, who up until last week was leading in most polls in this closely watched Senate race, continually tried to make this about his opponent instead of himself, which is kinda odd considering it’s Cunningham who is in the hot seat right now. Scratch that. That’s exactly why he tried to make the event about Tillis.

I’m sure the reporters who covered this “presser” knew going in that it was going to be a campaign event disguised as a presser – in fact, the first two who asked questions about the affairs acknowledged in so many words they wished they didn’t have to ask about it (first one literally apologized for asking it!). But you could tell by the end of it that other reporters who really did want to get to the bottom of the story felt used. And as often as I criticize the political media here, they’d be right to feel that way.

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Cunningham was directly asked four times if there were more women than the initial woman he acknowledged an extramarital relationship with (Arlene Guzman Todd). He refused to answer each time:

Towards the end of the presser, you could tell reporters were getting agitated with his non-responses:

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I should note that initially reporters were told they could only submit questions through email, but that changed at some point (presumably due to press complaints). Also, some media outlets were curiously not invited to join in on the call:

If Cunningham thinks this “presser” put the issue to bed (no pun intended), he is sorely mistaken:

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As I said in my prior post, the fact that he won’t acknowledge one way or the other whether there were intimate relationships with the two women he is alleged to have had affairs with while in the middle of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, well – it tells us everything we need to know.

Related –>> Scandal-Plagued Cal Cunningham Finally Appears in Public, Immediately Sticks His Foot in His Mouth

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