Kellyanne Conway called the timing of Donald Trump’s donation a “coincidence.” | AP Photo Trump's campaign manager calls pay-to-play suggestion 'ridiculous'

After repeatedly dodging probing questions on Bloomberg’s "With All Due Respect," campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on Wednesday that “its ridiculous” to think that Donald Trump donated to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s campaign and expected anything in return.

Conway's comments come as Trump and his allies are facing intensifying scrutiny over a $25,000 donation Trump's foundation made to Bondi's re-election campaign just before her office decided not to open an investigation into Trump University. News also emerged last week that Trump recently paid the IRS $2,500 because tax-exempt charitable organizations are not allowed to make campaign contributions.


In the impromptu interview with hosts Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Conway attempted three times to redirect the scrutiny onto allegations Clinton Foundation donors got access to political power brokers due to Hillary Clinton's position as secretary of state.

“I think there is absolutely no equivalence between that and Hillary Clinton using the State Department as a concierge for foreign donors to move hundreds of millions,” said Conway.

Eventually Halperin and Heilemann got Conway to call the timing of Trump’s donation a “coincidence.” But before the interview finished, Conway squeezed in a critique of the media’s interest in the story.

“I think the whole reason that it’s in the news is because Donald Trump is actually winning in some of the polls, now including the CNN poll, and people are worried that he can actually win," she said.

