Trump stars in campaign’s live broadcast

by Ben Kamisar - 10/27/16 6:02 PM ET

Donald Trump starred in a Facebook Live interview for his campaign on Thursday, further stoking speculation about a potential future television endeavor should he come up short in his White House bid.

Trump mostly stuck by his stump speech during the interview, which was conducted by an advisor, but the appearance was notable as Trump’s first on his campaign’s new video program that has been pitched as a way to directly address supporters.

{mosads}”We have a huge crowd of people waiting outside,” Trump told Boris Epshteyn, the senior Trump advisor who has become one of the hosts of the new online video venture, to begin the interview.

Trump appeared Thursday afternoon for the interview, streamed live on both his Facebook page and through YouTube broadcaster Right Side Broadcasting, despite being an hour late to his rally in Toledo, Ohio.

Trump’s inaugural interview on his campaign’s new platform included some of the hiccups of the earlier broadcasts.

“Where’s our camera?” Trump asks at the start of the interview, looking around.

Staffers then discuss whether Trump should have a personal microphone or use the camera’s external microphone before Epshteyn kicks off the broadcast.

Trump’s campaign started pre-rally live video programming on YouTube this week, where Epshteyn and Trump adviser Cliff Sims have been anchoring programming ahead of his evening rallies.

Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer, who is in close contact with the campaign, have been among the program’s inaugural guests.

The GOP nominee has repeatedly sworn off any interest in starting a television network or program after his bid for president, but speculation continues to mount thanks to Trump’s continued decline in the polls and the fact that he brought on Breitbart News’ Steve Bannon to lead his campaign over the summer.

Bloomberg Business reported Thursday that while the idea for a television network initially started as a threat issued to Fox News in response to what the campaign felt was unfavorable coverage, Trump has grown more interested in the idea as media companies began to reach out about the prospect.

Tags Donald Trump