During his TV appearance, the Republican also spoke about the storming of the Capitol, his conviction for sexual abuse in a civil trial and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Former US President Donald Trump repeated his lie at the beginning of an appearance on CNN that his 2020 election victory had been stolen from him. “I think if you look at the result, and if you look at what happened in this election, if you’re not a very stupid person, you see what happened,” Trump said Wednesday night.
According to the Republican, the presidential election that brought the Democrat Joe Biden into office was manipulated. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins contradicted Trump. “It wasn’t a rigged election. It wasn’t a stolen election,” she said. Trump stuck to his often refuted claim and accused Collins of pursuing a political agenda.
He left open whether he would accept the official result of the 2024 presidential election. “If I think it’s an honest election, I would definitely do it,” Trump said when asked if he was committed to accepting the election results. The presenter asked again: “Will you undertake to accept the results of the election regardless of the outcome?” Trump was evasive again, saying, “If I think it’s an honest election, I would be honored.”
Trump on Pence: “Made mistakes”
In addition, more than two years after the storming of the US Capitol, Donald Trump does not want to apologize to Vice President Mike Pence, who he pilloried at the time. “He’s a very nice man. He made a mistake,” Trump said on the television show. When asked by Collins if he owed Pence an apology, Trump said, “No, because he did something wrong.”
Trump supporters stormed the seat of parliament in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump’s democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that. At the time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – from a legal point of view a purely ceremonial task, but Trump had previously publicly called on his Vice President to block the procedure. He also explicitly incited his supporters against Pence.
Trump also promised in the interview that he would pardon rioters convicted of storming the US Capitol if he returned to the White House. “I am inclined to pardon many of them,” he said. When asked if he would also pardon members of the far-right Proud Boys, he replied evasively: “I would have to look at their case.” But he could say that you don’t get a fair trial in Washington.
Trump railed against the judiciary
Trump also commented on his conviction for sexual abuse in a civil trial and again rejected the allegations against him. “This is a made up story,” Trump said. The Republican railed again against the judiciary. He did not testify personally during the trial because it was a “set up,” Trump said. The judge was “terrible”. About the US author E. Jean Carroll, who won the case against him, he said: “I don’t know this woman. I’ve never met her. I have no idea who she is.”
On Tuesday, Trump was sentenced to millions of dollars in compensation for sexual abuse and defamation in a civil lawsuit. A New York jury found it proven that Trump sexually assaulted writer Carroll in a New York department store in 1996. She also ordered Trump to pay the 79-year-old a total of five million dollars (around 4.56 million euros) for the offense of defamation.
Evasive statements on the Ukraine war
The former US President was evasive about the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. When asked whether he would continue to provide money and arms to Ukraine if he won the 2024 presidential election, the Republican said, among other things: “I want Europe to provide more money because they are laughing at us. They think we’re a bunch of idiots.”
Trump claimed that the US government is giving away so much equipment that there is no ammunition left for its own troops. During his time in the White House, he had already accused Germany and other NATO countries of spending too little money on their own armed forces and hiding behind the protective shield of the well-armed US military.
Trump reiterated his claim that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has been going on for more than 14 months, in 24 hours. Both parties to the conflict have strengths and weaknesses, he said. Asked by moderator Collins whether Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, Trump said, “If you say he’s a war criminal, it’s going to be a lot harder to make a deal.”
Appearance is considered unusual
Citizens who are close to the Republicans or do not feel affiliated with either party are allowed to ask questions on the show, which is moderated by Collins. Trump is running for the Republican nomination for the presidency in the 2024 elections – for that he has to pass his party’s primaries. It is unusual for Trump to appear on CNN, because the broadcaster is considered to be rather liberal and is repeatedly attacked by the 76-year-old.