In the last week, the president refused to attend virtual debate with Joe Biden – a pre-condition that news organizations set due to the president’s recent diagnosis of Covid-19.
In the absence of that debate, Trump appears to have fled back to his base, partaking in a string of lengthy, unfiltered interviews with favorable news outlets. He has appeared on Fox four times in the last week, whilst blocking Dr Fauci from speaking on This Week on CBS. Here’s what his week in interviews looked like.
‘A perfect physical specimen’
Donald Trump prepared for the weekend with a Thursday morning interview with Maria Baritoromo, in which he bragged (perhaps joked?) about beating his Covid-19 diagnosis, claiming: “I’m back because I’m a perfect physical specimen and I’m extremely young.”
‘A great display of love’
Hours after cancelling the second debate because he objected to doing it virtually, Trump appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Friday night show virtually. The format was a mock tele-health visit, with Carlson pointing out that Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis was too recent for Fox to send a news crew to him.
Trump was interviewed by Dr Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor who has repeatedly compared the coronavirus to the flu, and disputed the evidence on masks. Trump addressed criticism over going outside to greet supporters from his car just hours after being hospitalized with the highly contagious virus – claiming he could hear his fans from the hospital.
“I was way up high. And, you know, [I’m in] this very fortified military hospital that’s, you know, built to the highest standard. And yet through these very powerful windows, I could hear people screaming and shouting and with love, with real love.”
It sounds like he had no regrets about his decision, adding: “I don’t think there was one negative person, and there was many, many, many people.”
‘We oughta do the debates ourselves Sean’
Trump then complained he gets an unfair ride during the debates on Sean Hannity’s show, calling his 2016 debate hosts “Clinton people” who he claims have apologized for his unfair treatment.
Then Trump suggested his own plan for the debates – one in which he gets to pick the station and the anchors. “I’m the President so if we have debates I would rather just do it ourselves … I would pick some good anchor.” Then, he said who he would like. “Let’s have a great host someone like the great Sean Hannity, we’ll get Rush [Limbaugh], we’ll get Mark [Levine], we’ll get Laura [Ingraham], we’ll get Judge Jeanine … or Tucker [Carlson],” he said.
‘The most honest guy in the world’
On Friday, Trump also sat for a two hour interview with Rush Limbaugh – the conservative host to whom Trump awarded the medal of freedom. Limbaugh kicked off with high praise, telling Trump: “You are one of the strongest, most unwavering, most determined loyal people I’ve ever met.”
Trump seemed to agree, suggesting that he might actually be the most honest person in the world. “A friend of mine said – who is a very smart successful guy, a lawyer – said you must be the most honest guy in the world, you’ve gone through three and a half years of investigations and they have found nothing,” he said, referencing the recent investigations into his taxes, and the Russia probe.
Keep the suburbs strong
On Sunday, radio host Mark Levin claimed that Trump is often painted as something he is not – a, segregationist and a white supremacist. Levin asked why the media doesn’t instead ask Biden about his record, working with segregationists and opposing bussing.
“You never really get a fair opportunity,” said Levin.
“It’s a shame,” Trump responded. “I have done more for the African American community than anybody since Abraham Lincoln, I really have, no matter which way you cut it,” he said.
Basking in the glow of immunity
Trump was interviewed by Bartiromo on Sunday, during which he claimed he felt fantastic – in fact, he referred to himself as “having really a protective glow”.
“It seems like I’m immune,” he told Bartiromo, before giving a potential timescale: “I could be immune, maybe for I dunno, maybe a long time, maybe a short time – it could be a lifetime.”
Talking Points Memo
(@TPM)
When asked what he is doing to ensure safety of attendees at Florida rally, Trump claims he has a «protective glow» pic.twitter.com/edcBqC5L8j
October 11, 2020
Trump also claimed 2.2 million Americans were projected to die from the virus in the US, and so the US’s 214,000 death toll was an achievement by comparison.
It is true that a 2.2million dead estimate was knocking around at the start of the pandemic – but as pointed out by Vox’s Aaron Rupar, that estimate was based on a scenario in which the government literally did nothing in response to the virus.
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