Did former President Donald Trump manage to eclipse the first Republican presidential debate? Maybe not completely, but he did achieve something important: to become the topic of conversation on his own terms in an explosive interview with the conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
The conversation, which went mega-viral in a matter of minutes, was launched on the X platform (formerly Twitter)just a few minutes before the presidential debate organized by the Fox News network began in Milwaukee.
Ep. 19 Debate Night with Donald J Trump pic.twitter.com/ayPfII48CO
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2023
Of course, one of Tucker’s first questions to Trump was why he decided not to attend his party’s debate.
“Well, you know, a lot of people have been asking me that and many people said you shouldn’t do them but you know, the polls have come out and I’m leading by 50-60 points and you know, some of them are at 1 and 0 and two,” replied a serene Trump, who had a pretty pleasant chat with one of the most famous presenters in the United States and the world.
“And I’m saying do I sit there for an hour or two hours whatever it’s going to be and gets harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president. They shouldn’t be doing that, and a network [Fox News] that isn’t particularly friendly to me, frankly,” said the Republican candidate, the overwhelming favorite to win his party’s nomination, currently by a wide margin.
Trump explained that – according to his criteria – Fox News is supporting his main adversary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and that is why he partly decided not to attend the debate organized by the news network.
The former president also commented that while Fox News is supporting DeSantis, it really isn’t helping the Florida governor’s cause, who remains quite distant from Trump according to the most recent polls.
Trump also stressed that the interview with Tucker Carlson himself would receive “more audience” than the Republican debate itself.
Biden is afraid of China and Russia
One of the most critical moments of the interview was when Trump told Tucker Carlson that President Joe Biden is petrified in the face of the advance of China and Russia in the hemisphere.
Specifically, Trump said the U.S. made a big mistake by releasing the Panama Canal and that Biden is afraid to tell China and Russia to stop moving forward and building military facilities in Cuba.
“He, in many ways, is a Manchurian candidate. We have a Manchurian candidate and he’s afraid to tell Russia to get out of Cuba. He’s afraid to tell China to get out of Cuba. China now is building. Think of this, China’s building military installations in Cuba,” Trump told the host.
The Republican then cited Chinese control of the Panama Canal after the United States sold it to Panama under the administration of former President Jimmy Carter.
“If I’m president, they’ll get out because I have a very good relationship with President Xi [Jianping], and he respected this country, he respected me,” Trump said. “And he’ll get out and we can’t let them ruin the Panama Canal. We built the Panama Canal; it should’ve never have been given to Panama.”
Trump also called Biden the most “corrupt” and “incompetent” president in the country's history.
In addition, he said his interests are “compromised” vis-à-vis China.
“I actually believe he’s compromised because China knows so much about him. They know where the money comes from; they know where it is and who paid it. They probably paid it. Well, they do pay Penn, and he gets $1 million; it’s $999,000 because it keeps it a little bit under $1 million by $1,” said the former president, who at another point in the interview mocked Kamala Harris making Tucker Carlson laugh.
“She has some bad moments. Her moments are almost as bad as [Biden’s]. I think [Biden’s] are worse,” Trump said of the vice president.
“She seems pretty senile, too,” Carlson replied.
“She speaks in rhyme. It’s weird. It’s weird,” Trump said.
“In rhyme?” asked Carlson as he smiled.
“Well, the way she talks: ‘The bus will go here and then the bus will go there! Because that’s what busses do! It’s weird. The whole thing is weird. This is not a president of the United States’ future,” the former president said sarcastically.
Donald Trump to Tucker on Kamala Harris: “She speaks in rhyme. It's weird... Well, the way she talks: 'The bus will go here and then the bus will go there! Because that's what busses do!'”
So good 🤣🤣🤣
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 24, 2023
“They are savages”
Trump and Carlson talked about many issues, some quite controversial, such as the discomfort that the former president generates to the traditional American political class and the price he is paying for it.
The conversation became tense at one point, with Trump arguing that his political adversaries could steal the election from him and even assassinate him.
“It started with protesting against you, then it moved to impeachment twice, and now indictments,” Carlson immediately said. “Are you worried that they’re going to try and kill you? Why wouldn’t they try to kill you, honestly?”
“They’re savage animals. They are people that are sick,” Trump quickly responded, later explaining to the host that the United States is on the verge of civil war.
TUCKER: "Are you worried that they're going to try and kill you?!"
TRUMP: "They're savage animals. They are people that are sick, really sick." pic.twitter.com/rR20JNWOjt
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 24, 2023
At another contentious point in the conversation, Carlson questioned Trump for his opinion on the death of mogul and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The host argued that, for him, Epstein was killed, and asked the former president: “Do you think it’s possible that Epstein was killed?”
“Oh sure, it’s possible. I mean, I don’t really believe it. I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with, you know, beautiful homes, and beautiful everything and he all of a sudden he’s incarcerated and not doing very well,” Trump responded. “I would say that he did, but there are those people — there are many people who believe, I think you’re one of them right, a lot of people think that he was killed. He knew a lot on a lot of people.”
“He was killed, I think,” Carlson insisted. “Look, I’m not a conspiracy person at all. I believe everything I hear. But yeah, the closer you look into it, I mean the attorney general of the United States — your attorney general clearly lied about the Epstein death, like why?”
After that exchange, the former president admitted that how they guarded the tycoon’s cell was, to say the least, careless.
“Certainly, it wasn’t well done,” Trump said. “They had no cameras, they had no anything. Everybody was sleeping — a case could be made; look, I’m not going to get involved in it, but I can tell you a case could be made either way. But, it certainly wasn’t the most well-run place.”
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At the time of publication, the interview between Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump had already surpassed 85 million impressions on “X.”
