NYT Reporter Talks Incendiary Trump Interview: He Claimed Responsibility For ‘Success of the Press’
President Donald Trump’s impromptu interview yesterday with the New York Times has been the talk of the town this morning, with many making note of some of the wild claims he made throughout the 30 minute verbal throw down. Trump randomly bringing up Paul Manafort’s brief tenure as Associate Director of the Presidential Personnel Office for Ronald Reagan, sure? Saying he knows taxes and health care “better than anybody,” why not?
A big point of interest, however, was when the president noted that the media “have” to let him win re-election, suggesting that without his omnipresence, institutions like the “failing New York Times” will become the “failed New York Times.”
New York Times reporter — and conducter of that very interview — Michael Schmidt appeared on Morning Joe this morning and spoke to Willie Geist and Eddie Glaude about that very topic.
Schmidt indicated that he thinks Trump has a very warped idea regarding the intentions of the press.
“I think he’s really bent on trying to get as much good press coverage as possible and truly believes he has been treated unfairly,” he said. “He believes that the press will eventually come around to him and he thinks he’s responsible for a lot of the success of the press and the fact that there is so much attention that is paid to everything that he does and that the press is relevant in a way that it wasn’t before.”
Schmidt continued, “He wants the press to know that and he wants the press to essentially sort of thank him and, you know, I think that he thinks that the press has probably worse intentions than it really does.”
The NYT reporter finished by stating “that’s his way of really sort of sticking it to the press and saying, you know, look at who you guys are and look at how unfair you treat me.”
To play devil’s advocate here, the press truly does spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the president though, right?
Watch above, via MSNBC.
[image via screenshot]
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