Trump Interviewed by Fox News and 60 Minutes Following White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Shooting
Jacqui Heinrich and Norah O’Donnell get first interviews with President after Saturday’s incident.
President Trump gave two interviews on Sunday after Saturday night’s shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner.
This morning he called live into The Sunday Briefing on Fox News and was interviewed by Jacqui Heinrich, the incoming WHCA president who was on the dais with Trump and others last night when the shooting happened.
Whenever Trump calls into a Fox News show, the flattering hosts practically turn the time over to him, allowing long and rambling answers to their low-depth questions. That was the case with this interview by Heinrich, though she’s usually more insightful at press conferences and with her regular reports outside of a TV studio.
Heinrich was able to fit a lot of topics into the 30-minute interview: the shooting, the ballroom, FISA, Iran, China, Ukraine, Russia, NATO, King Charles’ visit, redistricting. But Trump didn’t offer any new info nor any notable takes on the matters.
His second interview following the incident, conducted by Norah O’Donnell for 60 Minutes, was more noteworthy. This was O’Donnell’s second interview with Trump, and it was recorded this afternoon and aired tonight on CBS.
Anytime this network snags a big interview with the administration, you have to wonder if it’s because the new CBS owner, David Ellison, has been friendly with Trump. Ellison needed the administration’s blessing for his acquisition of Paramount and CBS. Leading up to this, Ellison settled Trump’s lawsuit against the network, ended Stephen Colbert’s show, and put Bari Weiss in charge of CBS News.
Trump told O’Donnell that the shooter, Cole Allen, was going through a lot and had become anti-Christian. Allen’s siblings had previously reported his behavior to law enforcement.
The president said he wasn’t worried at the event because he understands life and that we live in a crazy world.
Before he got pushed to the floor by Secret Service, Trump had told them he wanted to see what was happening. Later he tried to have the event continue, though it may be held again within a month.
The interview got heated when O’Donnell read excerpts of a note written by the shooter which seemed to be critical of the president and his connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
For asking these questions, Trump said O’Donnell was horrible, disgraceful, and should be ashamed of herself. He added that he has been “totally exonerated” in the Epstein matter, though the DOJ has held back on releasing all of the files and many Epstein questions remain unanswered.
Trump ended this portion of the interview by saying, “If I was a king I wouldn’t be dealing with you.”
O’Donnell also asked about political violence and how this could be changed. Trump criticized Democrats and what he said was hate speech by them.
The interview was a 15-minute segment on 60 Minutes tonight and an extended, 40-minute interview was also released.