Apr 27, 2022:
The last two nights, Fox Nation aired a two-part interview where host Piers Morgan interviews Donald Trump on the debut of Morgan's show entitled "Piers Morgan Uncensored."
Fox Nation is a subscription video streaming service and a companion to Fox News.
The interview also aired on the debut of Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV in the United Kingdom and in Australia on Sky News Australia.
Below, are some noteworthy exchanges from the interview. My research and commentary appears in black, in italics, and at the end of this post in the "Commentary" section.
After Morgan says that Trump constantly talks about the last election (the 2020 presidential election), Trump responds:
I don't talk constantly. I don't talk about it very much.
Later, Trump says:
The press hates to write about it [the "rigged" 2020 presidential election], but that election was rigged and it was stolen. One hundred percent. I don't mean a little bit...I have proof — and we have massive proof.
When asked about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after calling the situation "horrible" and "a stupid war", Trump says:
I'll tell you what I really think. I said, 'Isn't it a shame, all those people are dead all because of a rigged election.' Because if our election wasn't rigged, you would've had nobody dead.
Here's what Trump said two months ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida on February 26:
Under our administration [when Trump was president] Russia respected America just like every other country respected America, but now Joe Biden is seen as weak. As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president.
Source:
Levine, Jon. (February 26, 2022). "Trump claims Putin would not have invaded Ukraine on his watch". New York Post. Retrieved 2022-04-28
NO, not "everyone" understands or believes what Trump said.
NO, the 2020 election was not "rigged."
NO, not all Americans believe that the Russian invasion wouldn't have happened if Trump had been reelected.
True to form, Trump talks as if it what he is saying is fact. Objective reality says that no one knows for sure if Putin would have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been reelected. Trump lives in his own little fantasy world - a world that bears little resemblance to objective reality.
I doubt that Trump spent any time reading the televised address Putin gave on February 21, 2022 (just three days before the invasion began) or the televised address Putin gave on February 24, 2022. If he had, he would understand that Putin believes that Ukraine is still, rightfully, part of Russia, and that Putin is "hell-bent" on restoring as much of the old Soviet Union as possible, regardless of the fallout, and regardless of the sitting U.S. president.
Even if what Trump says was true, Putin was going to invade Ukraine at some point in the near future anyway. That's crystal clear from what Putin said in his speech and his address.
This is nothing but Trump, again, putting his egotistical "I'm the only one who can fix it" mentality on display.
When talking about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Trump says:
I call it the 'N-word.' He [Putin] uses the 'N-word,' the nuclear word, all the time. That's a no-no. You're not supposed to do that. He uses it on a daily basis.
Trump continued by saying that the U.S. has:
...far more [weaponry] than you do, far, far more powerful than you...We have more powerful than them and there would be no Russia, there would be no Russia, but we don't want to talk about that.
Trump says "...there would be no Russia..." And why is that? Because the U.S. would obliterate the entire country with nukes?
In another part of this interview Trump said that it's a "no-no" to talk about nukes, but that's what he seems to be implying in his statement.
You're not going to get Putin to back down with verbal threats. Like Trump, Putin is a very unpredictable and dangerous man. Even though Trump isn't president, he was president and he shouldn't be making statements like this, especially given the fact that he might be president again.
Complaining about the U.S. press, Trump said:
This is like a communist country.
If you want to know what it's really like to live in a communist country, I suggest you go live in China or North Korea for a while.
Mentioning the 2020 election again, Trump said:
We have a crooked, corrupt election, and I've proven it.
When Morgan said that the 2020 election was "free and fair", Trump called him a "fool."
Speaking of Mike Pence Trump said:
Mike was foolish and he was weak.
Source:
"Fox Nation". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2022-04-27
Bump, Philip. (April 26, 2022). "539 days later, Trump still can't point to actual voter fraud". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-04-27
Levin, Bess. (April 26, 2022). "Donald Trump, Malignant Narcissist, Blames Ukrainian Casualties on 'Rigged' U.S. Election". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2022-04-27
Feinberg, Andrew. (April 25, 2022). "Ukraine, nuclear weapons and election delusions: What we learned from Piers Morgan's interview with Trump". Independent. Retrieved 2022-04-27
'Piers Morgan Uncensored' premieres on Fox Nation with 'heated' Trump interview | Fox News
No, Trump would not have stopped Russia's invasion of Ukraine | The Hill
Commentary:
In conclusion, you might wonder why I spend so much time analyzing and picking apart things that Trump says.
The answer is simple. Trump is a dangerous man and highly toxic to U.S. democracy. It's important to keep calling him out for all of the B.S. that he continues to spew.
Our country survived one term with Trump as president, but the end of that term nearly broke our democracy with the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Imagine if Trump were in office for a second term, with no reelection concerns that might keep him at least somewhat in check?
Trump is still alive and kicking, and there are one hell of a lot of people who still support him, and who will vote for him if he chooses to run again.
Another term of Trump, combined with the bitter, divisive culture and religious war being waged in our country might be the end of democracy as we know it.
Great post. Trump is a malignant cancer who will destroy America if not stopped. We must keep calling him out. I suspect Putin avoided a full on Ukraine invasion during 2020 as he wanted Trump to stay and didn't want Trump to have to address the invasion, yea or nay, during and shortly after the election. Trump was his stooge in 2018-19 by trying to weaken NATO. Putin shocked at resolve of Ukraine, NATO, Zelensky, Biden.
How to cult deprogram Trump's millions of blind supporters? Very tough as he did sign the huge tax giveaway, confirm three justices and 200+ lifetime federal judges. ALL of this was laid on Trump's lap by McConnell. ALL Trump had to do was be told where to sign. He was a useful idiot for the people who put him in the White House (Bannon, Murdoch, Koch, Putin, et al). So we have a freak show addicted to power and corruption.
I don't know how we squelch this monster but I encourage everyone to check out Mallory McMorrow, Michigan state senator (D) and her recent senate speech and interviews about calling out those who foment hate and denigrate marginalized people. She is inspiring and a ray of hope for an inclusive message we can all embrace.