It had been a long time since Donald Trump had dealt with such a well-prepared journalist. For about ten minutes, Steve Inskip, of NPR public radio, patiently fact-checked every false assertion of the former US president about a so-called fraud in the presidential of 2020. Donald Trump did not like that, who curtly ended an interview recorded on Tuesday and broadcast on Wednesday.
In an interview with @nprinskeep, former President Trump continued to deny reality about his 2020 election loss.
After 9 minutes of being pressed on his lies, he abruptly ended the call. https://t.co/3Wc2RX7lQH
– NPR (@NPR) January 12, 2022
The exchange begins cordially on the pandemic. “Vaccines, I recommend them, but it should be an individual choice”, details Donald Trump, who says “against a vaccine obligation”.
“You know very well that this is an incorrect partial report”
Fairly quickly, the discussion switches to the mid-term elections of November 2022. The journalist asks the ex-president to react to the words of the Republican senator from South Dakota. According to Mike Rounds, “Republicans’ lost the 2020 presidential election” and continuing to talk about so-called fraud this year risks causing their voters to stay at home.
“If you look at what they found in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, they find impossible stuff. It was a rigged election, ”retorts Donald Trump.
Steve Inskip then reads the conclusion of an unofficial audit sponsored by Arizona Republicans, who found no evidence of fraud in large scale. He quotes Donald Trump’s lawyers, who were forced to admit before several judges that they did not claim that there had been fraud. “Isn’t it true that there were more ballots than voters in Philadelphia?” », Continues Donald Trump. “It’s not true. You know very well that was a false partial report which was corrected afterwards », Retorts the journalist.
“Mitch McConnell is a loser”
Why few Republican senators support what Democrats call ” the big lie “,” The big lie “? “Because Mitch McConnell is a loser “, Gets angry Donald Trump, believing that the boss of the Republicans in the Senate did not defend him enough. The ex-president then pleaded against the dozens of judges who ruled against his campaign, and against the Supreme Court which “arrefused to take up the case “. “For lack of standing », Specifies the journalist (the Court considered that Texas did not have the capacity to file a complaint).
Steve Inskip asks Donald Trump if Republican midterm candidates need to support his fraud charges to receive his support this year. Response: “They do whatever they want. The only way to ensure that doesn’t happen again is to find out what happened in the rigged 2020 election. “
The journalist then tries to continue with another question, the interview being only 9 minutes out of the 15 scheduled. “Thanks Steve, it was good,” said Donald Trump. “I wanted to ask you a question about January 6 … He is no longer there, OK”, concludes Inskip, who realizes that there is no longer anyone on the phone.