Likely the calculation was that he’d get enough reactionary fervor from his base to threaten NPR stations and staff. CNN got 20 of the best quotes:
1. "Are we going live, Steve? Are we, uh."
The interview was pre-taped. So they were not going live. (In other news:
"We'll do it live!") And away we go!
2. "Well, first of all, the mandate is really hurting our country."
The question (NPR’s Steve) Inskeep asked: "What advice would you give to Americans who haven't chosen to get vaccinated?" So, er, yeah.
3. "And being very -- the proud person that did so well with therapeutics and, and vaccines and everything else and getting them done in record times, you know, I -- I have a lot to say on the subject."
I think Trump is trying to make the point that a) he is vaccinated and boosted and b) when he did get Covid-19, he benefited from therapeutics to treat it. But, like, word salad.
4. "If some people don't want, they shouldn't have to take them. They can't be mandated, as the expression goes. And I think that's very important."
Inskeep pressed Trump on what advice he would give to the unvaccinated. This is what the former President came up with. Also, there is no saying that goes "they can't be mandated."
5. "Personally, I feel very comfortable having taken them. I've had absolutely no reverberation."
Vaccines! Now with less reverberation!
6. "I don't know why they would be getting the vaccine for the most part, unless they were at a certain age group and they had certain problems, whether it's the high blood pressure, the diabetes and, you know, various things in particular.
Trump is talking about people who have already got the virus here -- and arguing,
contra science, that they probably don't need to be vaccinated. Also,
diabetes [Wilford Brimley voice].
7. "If you look at the numbers, if you look at the findings in Arizona, if you look at what's going on in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, by the way -- and take a look at Wisconsin -- they're finding things that nobody thought possible."
8. "The number of ballots doesn't mean anything."
Uh...
9. "You look at the number of votes. Go into Detroit and just ask yourself, is it true that there are more votes than there are voters?"
10. "You take a look at Detroit."
I literally just did that!
The interview was six years in the making. Trump and his team have repeatedly declined interviews with NPR until Tuesday, when he called in from his home in Florida. It was scheduled for 15 minutes, but lasted just over nine.
After being pressed about his repeated lies about the 2020 presidential election, Trump abruptly ended the interview.
[...]
Trump doesn't have a case of widespread fraud.
He and his lawyers tried to prove that he did — and they failed. Many judges, including some appointed by him, ruled that way in dozens of cases.
Here's a section of the interview on this:
NPR'S STEVE INSKEEP: Let me read you some short quotes. The first is by one of the judges, one of the 10 judges you appointed, who ruled on this. And there were many judges, but 10 who you appointed. Brett Ludwig, U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, who was nominated by you in 2020. He's on the bench and he says, quote, "This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits."
Another quote, Kory Langhofer, your own campaign attorney in Arizona, Nov. 12, 2020, quote, "We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election." And also Rudy Giuliani, your lawyer, Nov. 18, 2020, in Pennsylvania, quote, "This is not a fraud case." Your own lawyers had no evidence of fraud. They said in court they had no evidence of fraud. And the judges ruled against you every time on the merits.
TRUMP: It was too early to ask for fraud and to talk about fraud. Rudy said that, because of the fact it was very early with the — because that was obviously at a very, very — that was a long time ago. The things that have found out have more than bore out what people thought and what people felt and what people found.
When you look at Langhofer, I disagree with him as an attorney. I did not think he was a good attorney to hire. I don't know what his game is, but I will just say this: You look at the findings. You look at the number of votes. Go into Detroit and just ask yourself, is it true that there are more votes than there are voters? Look at Pennsylvania. Look at Philadelphia. Is it true that there were far more votes than there were voters?
INSKEEP: It is not true that there were far more votes than voters. There was an early count. I've noticed you've talked about this in rallies and you've said, reportedly, this is true. I think even you know that that was an early report that was corrected later.
TRUMP: Well, you take a look at it. You take a look at Detroit. In fact, they even had a hard time getting people to sign off on it because it was so out of balance. They called it out of balance. So you take a look at it. You know the real truth, Steve, and this election was a rigged election.
When pressed, it was excuse after excuse — it was "too early" to claim fraud, his attorney was no good, things just seem suspicious.
But it all comes back to the same place: He has no evidence of widespread fraud that caused him to lose the election.
The tone of the interview changed. Trump then hurried off the phone as he was starting to be asked about the attack on the Capitol, inspired by election lies.
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During the interview, Trump also repeated an argument that Biden could not have won the election because he drew only modest crowds on the campaign trail.
“How come Biden couldn’t attract 20 people for a crowd?” Trump asked. “How come when he went to speak in different locations, nobody came to watch, but all of a sudden, he got 80 million votes? Nobody believes that, Steve. Nobody believes that.”
“If you’ll forgive me, maybe because the election was about you,” Inskeep responded.
www.washingtonpost.com/…
If you'll forgive me, maybe because the election was about you. If I can just move on to ask, are you telling Republicans in 2022 that they must press your case on the past election in order to get your endorsement? Is that an absolute?
TRUMP: They are going to do whatever they want to do — whatever they have to do, they're going to do. But the ones that are smart — the ones that know, you take a look at. Again, you take a look at how Kari Lake is doing, running for governor. She's very big on this issue. She's leading by a lot. People have no idea how big this issue is, and they don't want it to happen again. It shouldn't be allowed to happen, and they don't want it to happen again.
I want to --
TRUMP: And the only way it's not going to happen again is you have to solve the problem of the presidential rigged election of 2020.
Mr. President, if I --
TRUMP: So Steve, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Woah, woah, woah, I have one more question. I want to ask about a court hearing yesterday on Jan. 6. Judge Amit Mehta ... He's gone. OK.
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