The Internet Goes Wild Over Trump’s New York Times Interview: ‘A Whole Lot of Nutty’
Thursday evening brought a surprise New York Times interview with President Donald Trump. Times reporter Michael Schmidt was able to speak to the president at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. In an impromptu, free-wheeling, 30-minute conversation following Trump’s latest round of golf, the president insisted numerous times that there was no collusion with Russia while also maintaining that he feels Special Counsel Robert Mueller can be fair to him.
With the Times posting excerpts from the transcript of the interview, Media Twitter had a field day posting their favorite bits from the president rambling off-the-cuff. Let’s face it — there are fewer things reporters and journalists love more than unchained Trump.
There is a whole lot of nutty in this interview that should be cause for concern. But on the main point, he’s just wrong. In our country, no one—even the @POTUS—is above the law, and that makes America look very, very GOOD. https://t.co/wHdtqfprSx
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) December 29, 2017
Wherein the President reveals he got his China-NK intelligence from Fox News, and the CEO of Newsmax tries and fails to throw him an assist. pic.twitter.com/wbQrYu01rU
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 29, 2017
I’ve long suspected Trump thinks this. Never thought he’d say it aloud though. pic.twitter.com/A249kBDhyu
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) December 29, 2017
Trump randomly noting that Manafort worked for Reagan — whose term ended nearly 3 decades ago and has been dead for more than a decade — is so absurd. pic.twitter.com/0vhcOLhZzj
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) December 29, 2017
Trump keeps getting to claim that he knows things better than anyone ever without then being asked to demonstrate a scintilla of knowledge about anything. https://t.co/qjjGKEjMvh pic.twitter.com/beORwGigjl
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 29, 2017
Trump told the NYT today that virtually every Democrat has exonerated him in the Russia probe. I’m starting to think he actually believes what he says, which is a far worse scenario than Trump simply being a pathological liar. He’s nuts. pic.twitter.com/SwcDrPASL6
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) December 29, 2017
Trump: “I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department … for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter.”
Sounds like a veiled threat to shut down Mueller if he brings charges. https://t.co/VJEfzkMwPE
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 29, 2017
This is my favorite line of the NYT interview with Trump: "No aides were present for the interview, and the president sat alone with a New York Times reporter at a large round table as club members chatted and ate lunch nearby." https://t.co/aIQwhcZsJk
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 29, 2017
Trump: "There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime."
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) December 29, 2017
A million little quotes in the Times interview. But the overwhelming impression is just of a demented, buffoonish person. There’s really no other way to describe it. And fairly obvious sign of cognitive degeneration.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 29, 2017
Trump on @AlanDersh:
"..I don’t know him. He’s a liberal Democrat…he said, No. 1, there is no collusion,
No. 2, collusion is not a crime — but even if it was a crime — there was no collusion… And he has studied this thing very closely. I’ve seen him a number of times."— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 29, 2017
Possibly the most revealing/telling part of the whole interview https://t.co/MlY6oBcN9K pic.twitter.com/2qXjFBEOK5
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 29, 2017
There’s a lot in this impromptu interview Trump just gave the @nytimes, but this bit at the end is worth reading several times (and then several more). https://t.co/uYXbV5cXWV pic.twitter.com/XV1KapdJcs
— shauna (@goldengateblond) December 29, 2017
This is how drunk person sounds giving directions to a cabbie. https://t.co/ThoOMbmPyy
— Jeffrey Young (@JeffYoung) December 29, 2017
really don't feel it's unfair at this point to say that every single thing trump says or does can be more than adequately explained by the simple fact that he's an idiot
— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) December 29, 2017
Bonkers…… pic.twitter.com/LP4Vv0H7iA
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) December 29, 2017
Trump suggests that his base’s disbelief of collusion accusations is proof that they’re false. This is the populist’s core ploy: create an environment in which there are no objective facts, only opposing narratives in the partisan pursuit of power. pic.twitter.com/MDggrxdahJ
— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 29, 2017
However, a number of folks — many on the left — hit the New York Times for essentially letting Trump talk uninterrupted for a half-hour without much pushback or follow-up.
Despite Trump frequently attacking the New York Times as “fake news,” it seems to be his newspaper of choice for exclusive interviews. https://t.co/VJEfzkMwPE
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 29, 2017
Trump attacks NYT mercilessly, then gives NYT interview in which he’s asked no tough questions, which they then promote mercilessly. Rinse. Repeat.
— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) December 29, 2017
Every journalist claiming "we just let Trump talk" is legit is full of it. It's kotowing to power. It's certainly not something the NY times did w Obama.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) December 29, 2017
Trump has still, not once, been asked about the details of the Obamacare replacement plans he’s still pushing – or even to prove that he knows what Medicaid is. It’s mostly because he avoids real news outlets, but also because the rare opportunities aren’t taken.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 29, 2017
This idea that there's no way to ask real questions without causing offense is the entire problem with the NYT's Trump coverage.
— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) December 29, 2017
[image via screengrab]
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