Topline
Former President Donald Trump discussed conspiracy theories and attacked his detractors in a pre-taped interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson—one that was posted in opposition to the Republican presidential primary debate that Trump did not attend.
Key Facts
The interview posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, opened with Trump saying he decided to skip out on the Republican presidential debate because he was leading his competitors in polls and didn’t want to be “harassed” by people who “shouldn’t even be running for president,” later name dropping candidates such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, both vocal Trump critics.
Carlson then quickly shifted to conspiracy theories, asking the former president about the unsubstantiated idea that Jeffrey Epstein was murdered while in prison, though Trump said he believed the late convicted sex offender committed suicide and later claimed “a case could be made” for Epstein’s assassination.
Carlson, noting Trump’s two impeachments and four indictments, said the next stage against Trump would be “violence” before asking the former president if he was worried that people on the left would try to kill him.
Trump, who was asked the question twice by Carlson, didn’t answer the inquiries directly, opting to use them as a chance to criticize people on the left, question President Joe Biden’s health and denounce the four indictments he faces as of August.
Carlson later asked Trump if the U.S. was heading toward “open conflict,” to which Trump said he didn’t know but added that there’s a level of passion and hatred he’s never seen in the country and that both are “probably a bad combination.”
Key Background
Carlson said in an interview teaser posted to X on Wednesday that Trump’s team approached him about setting up the counterprogramming to the first Republican debate. Carlson claimed in the video that Trump, the “far-and-away frontrunner in the Republican race,” would have a larger audience on X than cable news. Last week, Trump laid into Fox News on Truth Social, accusing the network of showing unfavorable presidential polls and unflattering photos. Trump’s polling numbers have managed to benefit from news about the four indictments he faces, with many Republicans believing the criminal charges are politically motivated. Trump’s most recent charges came from a Georgia indictment alleging he and 18 others attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Mugshots of the co-defendants, which include Trump’s ex-lawyers, Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell, were released Wednesday. More than half of the defendants have agreed to the terms of their release. Trump has also agreed and said he would turn himself in Thursday under a $200,000 bond agreement.
Chief Critic
In a statement first provided to the Hill, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign called Trump’s appearance on Carlson’s show a “softball ‘interview,’” that would see the former president “double down on his most out-of-touch positions, including his support for wild, debunked conspiracy theories and a national abortion ban.”
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