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It tooksix yearsfor NPR to getDonald Trumpon the phone — and only nine minutes to get him off.
The pre-recorded interview was set to last 15 minutes, which was discussed at the top. “Very good,” Trump agreed. “Very good, Steve.”
They covered theCOVID-19 pandemic. “The vaccines, I recommend taking them, but I think that has to be an individual choice,” Trump said, also expressing his opposition to mandates, which he believes are “really hurting our country.”
The conversation quickly turned to the 2020 election as well as Trump and his supporters' persistent, baseless claims that it was somehow rigged in PresidentJoe Biden’s favor despiteoverwhelming evidence that it was not.
“Is it a disadvantage for Republicans to keep talking about the 2020 election in 2022?” Inskeep asked.
“No, I think it’s an advantage, because otherwise they’re going to do it again in ‘22 and ‘24,” Trump replied, mentioning vague and unsubstantiated “findings in Arizona” and “what’s going on” in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where he said, “They’re finding things that nobody thought possible,” before adding, “This was a corrupt election.”
“Because they’re RINOs, and frankly, a lot of people are questioning that,” he said.
Similarly, Trump answered a question about why the “vast majority of your allies in the United States Senate are not standing behind you” — includingSouth Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds— on his 2020 election misinformation, Trump said, “Because Mitch McConnell is a loser.”
The former president also falsely claimed that “nobody believes” that Biden “all of a sudden got 80 million votes,” which he did, because he could only “attract 20 people for a crowd” and “nobody came to watch” his events during the campaign.
“If you’ll forgive me,” Inskeep replied, “maybe because the election was about you.”
“Are you telling Republicans in 2022 that they must press your case on the past election in order to get your endorsement?” he asked. “Is that an absolute?”
“They are going to do whatever they want to do — whatever they have to do, they’re going to do,” Trump said, before mentioning Arizona Republican candidate Kari Lake, who has his endorsement and has taken up"election integrity"as an issue in her campaign for governor.
Donald Trump.James Devaney/GC Images
Inskeep seemed to want to get an answer to his specific question — but Trump spoke over him and then got off the phone.
“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,” he said, “So Steve, thank you very much. I appreciate it.”
“Woah, woah, woah, I have one more question,” Inkseep protested. “I want to ask about a court hearing yesterday on Jan. 6 … He’s gone. Okay.”
source: people.com
