AWKWARD: Hewitt Reminds Trump About That Time He Tripped Trump Into Biffing Question Live During Debate

Radio host Hugh Hewitt reminded former President Donald Trump about that time he got tripped up during a live televised debate — by a question that Hewitt asked him.

Hewitt is an unabashed supporter of Trump who opened his recent interview by gushing ” You’re always the best interview in America.”

But at one point during their chat, Hewitt pulled something of a baller move, asking Trump if he’s “still mad” about the debate miscue. Trump brushed it off and even copped to having given a “half-assed answer”:

HH: Are you still mad at me for the triad question, by the way?

DJT: No, but it was the only question that I answered not terribly, but I didn’t answer it, you know, I think I had a good excuse. I was just in the game and you asked me about the triad, the nuclear triad.

HH: I think it’s fine. I just want to know if you’re going to do a lot of debates this time.

DJT: No, I wasn’t, but I did say, I did say, you’ve always got a trick up your sleeves, but no, I wasn’t upset about that at all. I think I gave a half-assed answer, but it wasn’t as good as some.

HH: Well, I do have a trick up my sleeve. You named the Supreme Court list before you got elected.

The moment in question occurred at the GOP Presidential Debate In Las Vegas on December 15, 2015. When Hewitt asked about the “nuclear triad,” Trump gave a much-derided answer that appeared to reveal he did not know what the aforementioned triad was:

HEWITT: Mr. Trump Dr. Carson just referenced the single most important job of the president, the command, the control and the care of our nuclear forces. And he mentioned the triad. The B-52s are older than I am. The missiles are old. The submarines are aging out. It’s an executive order. It’s a commander-in-chief decision.

What’s your priority among our nuclear triad?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, I think we need somebody absolutely that we can trust, who is totally responsible; who really knows what he or she is doing. That is so powerful and so important. And one of the things that I’m frankly most proud of is that in 2003, 2004, I was totally against going into Iraq because you’re going to destabilize the Middle East. I called it. I called it very strongly. And it was very important.

But we have to be extremely vigilant and extremely careful when it comes to nuclear. Nuclear changes the whole ball game. Frankly, I would have said get out of Syria; get out — if we didn’t have the power of weaponry today. The power is so massive that we can’t just leave areas that 50 years ago or 75 years ago we wouldn’t care. It was hand-to-hand combat.

The biggest problem this world has today is not President Obama with global warming, which is inconceivable, this is what he’s saying. The biggest problem we have is nuclear — nuclear proliferation and having some maniac, having some madman go out and get a nuclear weapon. That’s in my opinion, that is the single biggest problem that our country faces right now.

HEWITT: Of the three legs of the triad, though, do you have a priority? I want to go to Senator Rubio after that and ask him.

TRUMP: I think — I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.

What makes that debate moment all the more amazing is that Hewitt asked Trump the same exact question — four months earlier on his radio show:

HH: Now let me ask you about the American nuclear triad.. Is it necessary anymore, Donald Trump, is it affordable?

DT: I think one of the most important things that we have to worry about is nuclear generally speaking. The power of nuclear, the power of the weapons that we have today and that is by the way — the deal with Iran — the concept of it is so important that you have to make a good deal and what they should have done is that they should have doubled up and tripled up the sanctions and negotiate from strength instead of the pathetic negotiators that we had so anything that we had to do with nuclear to me the power of the weapons — the problem is that it is not how many soldiers you have, the power of weaponry today is is utmost important.

HH: Do we need all the three kind of nuclear weapons that we have though?

DT: I think we should have absolutely have — you know we are going to have to build ourselves back up because — I don’t know if you saw that 60 Minute piece about a year ago where our nuclear weapons are so absolute and so outdated, the phones didn’t work, the wires were rotted and frankly to allow that to actually go on television where they are giving tours of places of silos and they are rusting and rotting and I’m Putin and I looking at that I’m saying I’m saying, “Wow these guys don’t have the power we thought they had.”

HH: But do you think we can afford to to just update one of the three legs nor do we need all three of them like the Cold War?

DT: I think we need massive protection and unfortunately you know the nuclear is the protection It’s not just the question of having a million soldiers nowadays. You need the protection because North Korea has it, the deal based on everything that I’ve seen as you know Iran is gong to have it, Pakistan has it, India has it. Hopefully, India is on our side a little more than most but people are getting it and Russia has it big league and China has it, but you know, Putin said about a month ago and I was shocked to hear it — first time I’ve ever heard it from that kind of a power. Essentially he said don’t mess with us, we have nuclear weapons. Do you remember that?

HH: Yep.

DT: Why would somebody say that from that kind of country?

Watch above via The Hugh Hewitt Show.