‘He Wants to Be the President of This Country for Life’: Michael Cohen Says Trump Isn’t Joking About Staying Past Two Terms
Donald Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, said that the president “doesn’t have a sense of humor” and isn’t joking when he has repeatedly hinted at staying past two terms.
During an hour-long interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, the convicted felon said that, in his opinion, the president’s mental faculties have eroded during his nearly four years in office and that Trump really would prefer to rule the country in perpetuity. Throughout his first term, Trump has often suggested that he might run past 2024, despite being constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms in the White House.
“Over time, do you feel like his sentience has declined, in what you described in him spelling or the way that he speaks or sometimes has trouble with words,” Maddow asked, alluding to the fact that his mental and physical capabilities — as well as his 2020 rival Joe Biden’s — have become campaign fodder. “Is he — has that changed over time? Is he the same person that speaks now that you recognize working with him for all those years?”
“He’s not the same person that I knew going back years ago,” Cohen claimed. “He was always gruff. He was always a certain way, but the power that he now has has gone to his head. He wants to be an autocrat. He wants to be the president of this country for life.”
“He wants to be just like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, just like [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-un, like [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro, like [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman,” Cohen continued, noting four national leaders who have effectively installed themselves as rulers for life. “He doesn’t want to run for president. That’s why he says ’12 more years?’ He’s not joking. He doesn’t have a sense of humor. He doesn’t laugh or tell jokes. He doesn’t have a sense of humor. He means it when he says it. My book is intended to really open the eyes of the 38% base of his that no matter what Donald Trump does it’s acceptable to them. And he doesn’t care and they don’t care. And he wasn’t joking again when he said that he could kill somebody on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. He means it.”
Watch the video above, via MSNBC.
