‘I’m Not Losing’: 10 Most Stunning Lines From Trump’s Wild Interview With Chris Wallace

President Donald Trump sat down for a lengthy interview with Chris Wallace this week — his first with the Fox News Sunday anchor since 2018 — and the result, airing this morning, was packed with news-making moments and remarkable quotes.

The lengthy interview was at times contentious. Just a few months ago, recall, Trump attacked Wallace via tweet, declaring him “worse” than Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd.

The Fox News anchor has already earned plaudits for his tough questioning and fact-based follow-ups. Trump responded characteristically: he evaded interrogation, attacked Wallace and Fox News, dismissed polls showing him down to Joe Biden, boasted of his successes, aired grievances, and spouted enough false statements to ruin Daniel Dale’s Sunday.

Trump also still managed to shock, four years in to his presidency. Here are the most stunning lines from his Fox News Sunday interview.

“I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world.”

Trump objected when Wallace informed him that the United States has the seventh highest coronavirus mortality rate in the world.

“I think it’s the opposite, I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world,” Trump shot back. He even demanded an aide bring him evidence of his claim. The numbers used by Trump, according to Fox News, were incomplete. Wallace took his numbers Johns Hopkins, which indeed found the U.S. mortality rate to be the seventh highest in the world.

“Show me the death chart.”

This demand from Trump came in response to Wallace pointing out that the United States notched a staggering 75,000 new cases in one day. Wallace didn’t have a “death chart” on hand, but noted off the top of his head that the U.S. is seeing 1,000 deaths per day. Trump responded by blaming China for the virus and dismissing the high numbers in the U.S. as the result of testing.

According to the NYT tracker, the U.S. is currently at 3.7 million recorded cases and 139,000 deaths.

“I’ll be right eventually.”

At one point in the interview, Wallace asked Trump a very good question: “Why on earth would your administration be involved in a campaign at this point to discredit Dr. Fauci, who is the nation’s top infectious disease expert.”

Trump insisted his relationship with the NIAID Director is “very good”, but accused the expert of being “alarmist” and making “mistakes”

When Wallace pointed out the president made mistakes as well — like claiming coronavirus is “going to sort of just disappear” — Trump stood by his assertion.

“I’ll be right eventually,” Trump said. “I will be right eventually. You know I said, ‘It’s going to disappear.’ I’ll say it again… It’s going to disappear and I’ll be right.”

“Biden wants to defund the police.”

Wallace fact-checked Trump on this one, prompting the president to demand an aid bring him proof that Biden wants to defund the police. According to Wallace, that proof was never supplied (likely because Biden has never said he wants to defund the police.)

“We’re going to name it after the Reverend Al Sharpton?”

Wallace questioned Trump on his defense of Confederate statues and military bases, asking why the president opposed renaming bases specifically despite the military and some Republicans’ openness to doing so.

“I don’t care what the military says,” Trump replied. “I’m supposed to make the decision.”

Trump proceeded to offer a curious example for who they would rename the bases for:

“Go to the community, say how do you like the idea of renaming Fort Bragg, and then what are we going to name it? We’re going to name it after the Reverend Al Sharpton? What are you going to name it, Chris, tell me what you’re going to name it?”

“I’m not losing, because those are fake polls.”

Trump is down to Biden in the polls. Almost all of them. By a lot. Wallace brought up a brand spanking new Fox News poll in his interview, which showed the president down 8 points nationally to Biden. Given recent surveys, that’s not bad for Trump. But his rating on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic was dire (Biden more trusted on the issue by 17 points).

Trump’s full reply:

“First of all, I’m not losing, because those are fake polls. They were fake in 2016 and now they’re even more fake. The polls were much worse in 2016. They interviewed 22 percent Republicans. Well, how do you do 22 percent Republican? You see what’s going on. I have other polls that put me leading, and we have polls where I’m leading. I have a poll where we’re leading in every swing state. And I don’t believe that your — first of all, the Fox polls, whoever does your Fox polls, they’re among the worst. They got it all wrong in 2016. They’ve been wrong on every poll I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ll bet you couldn’t even answer the last five questions.”

A very direct question from Wallace — “Is Joe Biden senile?” — prompted a wild exchange between Trump and the Fox News anchor over a cognitive test the president said he recently “aced.”

Read it in full below:

WALLACE: But I’ve got to tell you, if I may, sir, respectfully, in the Fox poll, they asked people, who is more competent? Who’s got — whose mind is sounder? Biden beats you in that.

TRUMP: Well, I’ll tell you what, let’s take a test. Let’s take a test right now. Let’s go down, Joe and I will take a test. Let him take the same test that I took.

WALLACE: Incidentally, I took the test too when I heard that you passed it.

TRUMP: Yeah, how did you do?

WALLACE: It’s not – well it’s not that hardest test. They have a picture and it says “what’s that” and it’s an elephant.

TRUMP: No no no…

TRUMP: You see, that’s all misrepresentation.

WALLACE: Well, that’s what it was on the web.

TRUMP: It’s all misrepresentation. Because, yes, the first few questions are easy, but I’ll bet you couldn’t even answer the last five questions. I’ll bet you couldn’t, they get very hard, the last five questions.

WALLACE: Well, one of them was count back from 100 by seven.

TRUMP: Let me tell you…

WALLACE: Ninety-three.

TRUMP: … you couldn’t answer — you couldn’t answer many of the questions.

WALLACE: Ok, what’s the question?

TRUMP: I’ll get you the test, I’d like to give it. I’ll guarantee you that Joe Biden could not answer those questions.

WALLACE: OK.

TRUMP: OK. And I answered all 35 questions correctly.

“I’m not a big fan of Fox.”

Wallace’s interview with Trump was so long he even had time to ask him about his Twitter attacks, which often center on the Fox News anchor giving airtime to Democrats.

“Don’t you understand it’s my job to put Democrats on as well as Republicans? And to ask them probing questions just like I ask Republicans?” Wallace asked.

Trump panned Fox in response (a network, it should be noted, he spends an extraordinary amount of his time watching).

“I’m not a big fan of Fox, I’ll be honest with you. They’ve changed a lot since Roger Ailes. And I watch people like Swalwell, who I don’t even know, he goes on the show, he got less than 1 percent, all of a sudden he’s on – being interviewed for endless hours,” Trump said.

“Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say mommy, mommy, please take me home.”

Hmmmm.

“It depends.”

That was the gist of the answer Trump gave when asked by Wallace if he intended to accept the results of the 2020 election. In a preview of the potentially vicious fight that’s to come, Trump said “I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.”

“I’m not a good loser. I don’t like to lose. I don’t lose too often. I don’t like to lose,” the president said. He declined to give an answer when asked if he would accept the results of the election.

“I have to see. Look, you – I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”