(LifeSite) Flouting the GOP primary presidential debate, former president and current Republican frontrunner in the 2024 election, Donald Trump, sat down with conservative media superstar Tucker Carlson for a long-form interview that aired Wednesday.
The interview, posted by Carlson on X, formerly Twitter, began with Carlson asking the former president why he chose not to attend the GOP debate, which began at 9 p.m. Eastern, just five minutes after the 8:55 p.m. release of his interview.
Ep. 19 Debate Night with Donald J Trump pic.twitter.com/ayPfII48CO
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2023
Answering the question, Trump mentioned that cable news has lost all of its credibility, and with his massive lead in the polls, he felt it completely unnecessary to join the stage with people who he thinks have no business running for president – and who he thinks have no ability to win.
Immediately getting into controversial territory, Trump talked about how if he becomes president in 2024 he will be able to get more done than in his first term as he is now more aware of how Washington, D.C. operates. Specifically, Trump mentioned his dislike for former Attorney General Bill Barr and his handling of the 2020 election.
Honing in on Barr, Carlson asked Trump if he agrees with the former attorney general that notorious billionaire financier and child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein truly “killed himself” while being detained in a New York jail.
Tiptoeing around the question, Trump seemed unwilling to say that Epstein did not kill himself but admitted that it is “possible” he was “killed” and that “he knew a lot on a lot of people.”
Turning to the litany of indictments levied against Trump in recent months, Carlson went through the timeline of opposition Trump has faced in his political career, starting with the protests against him in 2015 and 2016 prior to his election, the two impeachments while he was president, and the four indictments filed against him since he left office.
“The next stage is violence,” Carlson opined. “Are you worried that they [the establishment] are going to try and kill you? Why wouldn’t they try and kill you? Honestly?”
“They’re savage animals,” Trump replied. “They are people that are sick, really sick. You have great people in the Democrat Party … I represent everybody, I’m the president of everybody, but I’ve seen what they do, I’ve seen the lengths that they go to … these people are sick people … I think they hate our country if you wanna know the truth.”
