Trump Interview

 

Former President Donald Trump appeared on the Tucker Carlson prime-time cable news program the other night. Actually, Carlson devoted his whole show to playing segments of an interview he had conducted with President Trump at his Florida home, Mar a Lago. I know there are many people who cannot stand to listen to Trump or Fox News, but for those who claim that would like to see a kinder, gentler Trump, it would be good for them to watch this interview. Excerpts can be seen on YouTube. *

 

I am not a regular viewer of any cable news channel but did tune in to see what the former President had to say. It was refreshing that Carlson generally let Trump speak without interruption, or the back and forth that often characterizes such interviews. Carlson realized that Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, and that his audience wanted to hear him. I did not take notes but here are a few items that struck me while listening. 

 

Trump looked and sounded remarkably fit for a man his age. Is remarks demonstrated both intelligence, and considerable experience. He sounded Presidential. There was little rancor or recrimination. When asked his opinion of President Biden, there was sadness in his voice. It was almost with pity that he noted that you just have to look at the President, or hear him speak, to realize that there is something wrong with him. He said that it was not a question of age, for he knew people even at age 95 who were still sharp as a tack. There was no bitterness in these remarks, just sadness that we have a leader that no one respects, especially abroad. Foreign leaders will not even take his calls.

 

He went on to say that the Democratic party will have a real problem if Biden is not able, physically or mentally, to be the candidate in 2024. They will be stuck with under-performing Vice-President Kamela Harris. If Democrats try to discard Harris in favor of a white male like California Governor Gavin Newsome, they will lose millions of supporters who will be furious at the rejection of a woman of color. 

 

At another point in the interview Trump contrasted his administration with Biden’s. He pointed out the obvious facts that there was no war in the Ukraine during his administration, and that China did not threaten to invade Taiwan. Instead, he claimed that he had opened the doors of diplomacy and communication with Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and even North Korea, and that the leaders of these countries respected him. 

 

It is interesting that most of the interview was concerned with global security issues. Trump repeated his assertion, voiced when he first ran for President, that the greatest threat to our planet is not global warming but “nuclear warming.” He pointed out that nuclear weapons today are 500 times more powerful than the ones that levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost 80 years ago. He revealed that our nuclear arsenal was equal to Russia’s, and that China lagged behind but would be our equal in five or six years. The nuclear non-proliferation treaty is a thing of the past, and many nations are striving to join the nuclear club. He claimed that while there is  incessant talk and fear about global warming, no one seems to be concerned with the much more imminent and catastrophic threat of nuclear war.

 

He also discussed his indictment by a New York prosecutor. He was calm and matter of fact and did not think the prosecution would amount to anything. Even the police who arraigned him were apologetic and tearful during the process. He did not think this political prosecution or persecution would hurt his election prospects. He said that his recent rallies were the largest and most enthusiastic he had ever seen, and that a recent poll showed him nine points ahead of Biden.

 

As I said above, if you want a kinder, gentler Trump, look at this interview. Trump came across as Presidential, and electable.

 

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* Note. Some of these excerpts contain disparaging, misleading captions and interruptions. I would also like to note that a routine google search for an image of Donald Trump rarely turns up a flattering one. It is just the opposite doing an image search for President Biden.