Donald Trump gave a TV interview for the first time. But in the interview he rejected all questions about his behavior on the day of the storming of the US Capitol. In return he repeated his electoral lies.
Former US President Donald Trump has given interviews to conservative media outlets such as Fox News in the past. The most recent exception was a so-called town hall with CNN. Now he has given his first interview since leaving the station to NBC, which is also considered liberal.
But in the conversation, recorded on Thursday at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey and broadcast today, he refused to answer how he spent the day of the storming of the Capitol. “I’m not going to tell you,” Trump told moderator Kristen Welker when asked repeatedly whether he followed the events on television on January 6, 2021. He will tell people this at an appropriate time.
Trump: “Wonderful statements”
Former advisers to Trump had said that he had retreated to a room next to the Oval Office that day to watch the events on television. Sometimes he even rewound scenes and watched them again.
On the “Meet the Press” program, Trump also declined to comment on whether he made phone calls or who he called while his supporters stormed the headquarters of Congress. “Why should I tell you that?” he asked the moderator. When Welker was asked about his public silence during the violence, Trump said he made “beautiful statements” on the day of the storming of the Capitol.
Ex-president sticks to election lie
Trump was also asked in the interview why he didn’t listen to his lawyers who advised him to acknowledge his election loss to Biden. “I didn’t respect her,” he replied. “In many cases I didn’t respect them. But I respected others. I respected many others who said the election was fraudulent.”
In the more than hour-long interview, Trump repeatedly repeated the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that he was the actual winner – not Democrat Joe Biden.
600 criminals found guilty
Trump’s supporters, spurred on by his lies about the 2020 presidential election, stormed the Capitol as Congress sought to certify Democrat Biden’s victory. More than 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack. More than 600 pleaded guilty or were found guilty.
Trump said he would consider pardoning convicts if he were elected president again. “I’ll look at them and I could certainly pardon them if I think it’s appropriate,” he said.
Trump believes he is innocent
Trump is being prosecuted for his attempts to overturn his election defeat. The allegations do not relate to the insurrection at the Capitol. There are four criminal proceedings underway against the 77-year-old – he has been charged with 91 counts. The allegations relate to four counts related to his efforts to change the outcome of the presidential election, his handling of secret documents and alleged hush money payments to cover up an extramarital affair.
The ex-president denies any wrongdoing and is not afraid of prison time, as he told Welker. “I don’t even think about it. I’m probably built a little differently,” he said. He left it open whether, if convicted, he would pardon himself if he were to return to the White House. “I think that’s very unlikely. What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Trump wants to run for the Republicans again in the presidential election next November. According to experts, if he wins the election after being convicted at the federal level, he could probably pardon himself. However, this would not be possible if there was a conviction at the state level – for example in the cases against Trump in New York and Georgia.