GOP presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum called out ABC News during a Sunday interview for sidestepping the Hunter Biden scandals before pressing him repeatedly on former President Donald Trump's latest indictment.
ABC's "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos asked Burgum about Trump's indictment and whether the former president was "wrong when he pressured Mike Pence not to certify" the 2020 election results.
"I just have to say you guys, I just listened to 15 minutes of legal debate on this thing and I’m sure you could run it again 7 by 24. But what I know is that I’m running against Joe Biden and that’s what we’re going to be talking about and, of course, not a mention in the last 15 minutes of, you know, Hunter Biden or the laptop," Burgum said.
"There are people on the ground not watching Sunday programs that are saying, ‘You know, why is the DOJ defending Hunter Biden and why are they attacking President Trump?’ It does seem political to people and I think the folks in Washington have to understand that, you know, if they’re surprised why Trump is leading the polls it is basically people pushing back and saying, hey, we don’t trust the system," Burgum continued.
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Stephanopoulos pressed further and said, "I'm asking you what you think."
"Do you have an opinion on the fact that the President Trump tried to overturn the election as alleged by special prosecutor Smith?" he asked.
Burgum seemed to sidestep the question again and argued that he was running against President Biden.
"I’m not a lawyer. I’m an entrepreneur and I’m someone who leads and operates businesses that is something I care about the people of this country and you’re asking me, you know, basically a legal question, we’re focused on the future. There are just so many people that want to weigh in on this topic around the clock and you know who loves it when all we do is talk about this, of course, President Biden does because then we don’t have to talk about inflation or Afghanistan or the Russian invasion," Burgum said.
Stephanopoulos told Burgum that it wasn't just a legal question, but rather a "moral" question, and asked him again, "do you believe Trump was right to try to overturn the election results?"
"I believe that Joe Biden won the election and I believe we have to move on to the future but I do believe there were irregularities in terms of how the election went and those are going to be explored. The courts will go through all of that and do that. And, again, panel after panel will talk about it but everybody is innocent until proven guilty. That’s the way the system works in America. And we should be talking about the energy, the economy and national security," he said, calling on Stephanopoulos to "run a panel" on fentanyl.
"We’ve covered those issues extensively," Stephanopoulos said. "You’re not answering my questions about the front-runner who you need to defeat in order to become the presidential candidate for the Republican Party. You mentioned irregularities. Those have been adjudicated by the courts dozens and dozens of times and ruled against President Trump every time. Mike Pence said I do believe anyone who puts themselves above the Constitution should never be President of the United States. Do you believe President Trump has disqualified himself?"
Burgum qualified for the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee after reaching 1% in a Morning Consult poll.
To help meet one of the Republican National Committee's requirements for debate participants to receive at least 40,000 individual contributions with at least 200 unique donors in 20 or more states, Burgum told USA Today he relied on supplying a $20 Visa or Mastercard gift card to anyone who donated at least a dollar to his campaign.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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