Trump lashes out at journalist over WHCD shooter during 60 Minutes interview

[0:00] The so-called manifesto is a stunning thing to read, Mr. President. [0:04] He appears to reference a motive in it. [0:07] He writes this, quote, administration officials, they are targets. [0:11] And he also wrote this, I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, [0:16] rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. [0:20] What's your reaction to that? [0:20] Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, [0:23] because you're horrible people, horrible people. [0:27] Yeah, he did write that. [0:28] But I'm not a rapist. [0:30] I didn't rape anybody. [0:32] I'm not a pedophile. [0:33] Do you think he was referring to you? [0:34] Excuse me, excuse me. [0:35] I'm not a pedophile. [0:37] You read that crap from some sick person. [0:41] I got associated with stuff that has nothing to do with me. [0:46] I was totally exonerated. [0:47] Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, [0:54] let's say, Epstein or other things. [0:56] But I said to myself, you know, I'll do this interview and they'll probably, [1:01] I read the manifesto, you know, he's a sick person. [1:04] But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I'm not any of those things. [1:09] Mr. President, these are the gunman's words. [1:11] Excuse me, you shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. [1:15] You're a disgrace. [1:16] But go ahead. [1:17] Let's finish the interview. [1:18] The other thing that he wrote in the interview. [1:20] You're disgraceful. [1:20] Yeah. [1:21] When you have to go on national television and insist, quote, I'm not a rapist, [1:25] I'm not a pedophile, that kind of speaks volumes onto itself, doesn't it? [1:29] Especially considering he follows up that denial with an outright lie. [1:33] I was totally exonerated. [1:35] Um, okay. [1:37] How? [1:38] How exactly is Trump exonerated? [1:40] Did I miss the release of the other three million Epstein files? [1:43] Or is it that Trump's DOJ, under his leadership, [1:47] continues to hide the exact files that could actually exonerate him? [1:51] In fact, it is that very cover-up that makes it all but impossible to believe Trump's desperate denials. [1:56] Since day one, it's been insistence after insistence of covering up Epstein's crimes [2:02] and Trump's involvement in the whole Epstein situation. [2:05] From waving around fake binders with right-wing influencers, [2:09] to Pam Bondi saying the Epstein files were on her desk ready to be released before suddenly they weren't, [2:13] to Todd Blanche moving Ghislaine Maxwell to a low-security prison [2:17] after she suddenly announced that Trump wasn't implicated at all [2:20] before then saying that she wants a pardon, [2:23] to the documents that were released having victims' names exposed [2:26] and co-conspirators' names hidden, [2:28] to now where three million files are still suppressed, [2:31] despite that Epstein-Files Transparency Act law being signed about four months ago. [2:36] So obviously, none of this is proof of Trump's guilt, [2:39] but you can be damn sure that it's not evidence of his innocence. [2:43] And also, as far as his protest that he's not a rapist, [2:47] I'll simply read the words of one judge transcribed in this Washington Post article titled, [2:52] Judge Clarifies, Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll. [2:56] Quote, [2:56] The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York penal law [3:01] does not mean she failed to prove that Mr. Trump raped her, [3:04] as many people commonly understand the word rape. [3:06] Kaplan wrote, [3:07] He added, [3:08] Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, [3:11] the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that. [3:14] And of course, Trump doesn't discuss any of those things. [3:18] He never tackles the substance. [3:19] He just immediately tries to discredit the journalist, [3:23] who apparently committed the crime of merely acknowledging objective reality [3:27] regarding what the shooter wrote in his manifesto. [3:30] So apparently, her job is now to ignore it? [3:33] I mean, look, I'm as critical of legacy media as anyone, [3:37] but she did her job here by bringing this up. [3:40] It would have been a dereliction of duty if she didn't. [3:42] The fact that Trump lashes out says a hell of a lot more about him than it ever will about her. [3:48] And look, I don't say any of this to justify even 1% of someone committing violence. [3:54] For as depraved as Trump is, and he is, [3:57] it is not licensed to take a gun and try to shoot anyone. [4:00] Period. Full stop. [4:02] But I also want to make it abundantly clear that my criticism of Trump, [4:05] our criticism of Trump, is not the same thing as incitement to violence. [4:10] And any effort right now to point fingers at people who have criticized Donald Trump [4:14] as somehow being responsible for an assassination attempt [4:17] is not just oozing in bad faith, it is also deeply un-American. [4:22] Because think about it, if any criticism I make of the guy [4:25] is going to eventually be used as evidence that I'm responsible for anything that happens to him [4:30] at any untold point in the future, then is my alternative just, [4:34] I'm not allowed to ever criticize Trump? [4:36] And that's somehow okay? [4:38] In a democracy with a First Amendment that purports to value free speech? [4:43] You don't get to both hail yourself and your party as free speech absolutists [4:47] while also invoking any criticism, no matter how mild, [4:51] as the reason that some nutjob decides to bring a gun to his speech. [4:55] But here's the craziest part. [4:56] That rabid, angry, aggressive person who Trump showed himself to be in that video clip [5:02] that I first showed, I think that we can all agree that that is exactly who Trump is, [5:06] exactly who he's always been, right? [5:09] At this point, you would have to be brain dead not to recognize, [5:12] after the billionth meltdown, that there will never be a new tone, [5:16] he will never be presidential, he will never change. [5:19] He is who he is. [5:21] And yet, someone should probably tell legacy media. [5:24] You know, a couple minutes before this happened, I was with House Speaker Mike Johnson. [5:28] I shook Johnson's hand. [5:29] I was talking to him. [5:30] And then I was walking across the ballroom, Victor, [5:33] kind of taking the long way toward the CNN tables [5:35] because I wanted to see some of my friends and some of my sources. [5:38] And so I ended up on the ground next to an executive from Comcast, [5:42] some people from NBC. [5:44] And in that moment, you know, there was a lot of unity. [5:46] And I'm thankful that President Trump talked about that unity last night [5:50] and did not try to heighten the tensions or escalate the situation. [5:54] He could have very easily gone out there and bashed the press last night [5:58] and blamed the media for attracting this suspect to the ballroom. [6:02] But instead, he basically said, we're all in this together. [6:05] And that's certainly true. [6:06] And that's how it feels this morning as well. [6:07] I'm sorry, Trump could have attacked the press for attracting the shooter? [6:13] Is that seriously the bar right now? [6:16] Thank you, President Trump, for not blaming journalists for attracting a mass shooter [6:20] for the crime of reporting on what the president does and says. [6:24] Look, the option always exists to simply not treat Donald Trump [6:30] like a nine-year-old who needs to be graded on the curve. [6:33] Here's another one. [6:33] This one from PBS. [6:34] Yes, President Donald Trump was somberly contemplative [6:37] and unusually conciliatory after confronting what he saw [6:40] as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. [6:44] Somberly contemplative and unusually conciliatory. [6:47] So when this grown-ass man, who also happens to have the nuclear codes, [6:52] somehow manages not to blame random people or attack the press [6:56] or melt down in the middle of the street, [6:59] we have to give him flowers now? [7:01] Are we throwing him a parade for not eating crayons too? [7:05] Look, I understand that the legacy media's job is not to be on a political party's team. [7:10] That's fine. [7:11] If you watch my videos, you know where I stand politically. [7:14] But the legacy media does have a vested interest in not normalizing autocracy. [7:20] The idea of democracy persisting is existential for that very legacy media. [7:26] I write about this phenomenon in my upcoming book, The Day After. [7:29] Democracies don't just fall off a cliff, they get pushed. [7:33] First, an autocrat wins an election and seizes full power. [7:36] The legislature becomes a puppet. [7:37] The courts lose their independence. [7:39] Businesses prostrate themselves to make money. [7:41] The only surviving check and balance is the media. [7:44] So the media's independence is hacked back through extorting its corporate owners with threats, [7:49] nuisance lawsuits, and government oversight. [7:51] The free press does not die with a bang, but with a bunch of wimps. [7:54] That's the story of Vladimir Putin's Russia, Viktor Orban's Hungary, and Erdogan's Turkey. [7:59] Their countries used to enjoy a vibrant choice of media. [8:02] Now the surviving independent voices are few and far in between, if not in real danger. [8:06] So if you'd like to support independent media that isn't going to try and normalize Trump's [8:11] behavior, whether because there are political incentives or financial incentives, independent [8:16] media that won't give Trump credit for doing the absolute bare minimum or not even managing [8:21] to do that, then the best way to support my work is to pre-order my book the day after [8:26] or come see me in person during my book tour. [8:28] You can find all of that information, both the pre-order links and the book tour links, [8:32] by clicking the link right here on the screen or in the post description of this video [8:35] or in the comments, because my job is not to do both sides coverage, it is to tell the [8:41] truth about what's going on. [8:42] And yes, I have a bias, but it is in favor of democracy, so if that means I'm going [8:47] to do the unthinkable and call out one side without feeling the undying urge to pretend [8:52] that both sides are equally as bad, then so be it. [8:56] Because while some institutions want to pretend that this is all politics as usual, I refuse [9:00] to pretend that any of this is normal or okay. [9:03] Before you go, I'm very excited to announce that I've written a new book titled The Day [9:11] After, How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World. [9:14] The book explores what is, in my opinion, the single most important theme that we're [9:17] dealing with in politics today and moving forward, power, specifically how Republicans [9:22] abuse it and how Democrats refuse to wield it. [9:24] This book explains how we got here and more importantly, how we should finally wield power [9:28] if we're lucky enough to get it back. [9:30] It is the blueprint for progressives who want to do far more than just restore the status [9:34] quo. [9:35] Please pre-order today by following the link on this screen. [9:38] You can grab yours from any of the major retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or stroll down [9:43] on the page and get a copy from an independent bookstore closest to you. [9:46] Thanks so much for supporting independent media.