Donald Trump has largely avoided real-time fact-checking interviews. But on Sunday, he gave an interview on Fox News and was directly challenged on some of the campaign’s most obvious falsehoods.
The resulting exchange became a case study in the tactics used by former presidents when faced with facts that contradict their statements.
Trump has repeatedly denied knowledge of information that has long been available to the public, questioned sources, and then pivoted to unrelated topics.
But in some respects he stood by his words without bending or equivocating. He said he absolutely believed that political opponents were “enemies from within” that posed a greater threat than foreign enemies.
Below are notable moments from Trump’s interview with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz.
“I haven’t heard anything like that.”
Kurtz questioned Trump’s recent description of January 6, the day his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as a “day of love” and questioned why the former president I asked him if he understood that the American people had love for him. It looked like a dark day.
Trump didn’t back down from that explanation, and when Kurtz countered by pointing out that hundreds of people have pleaded guilty or been convicted, many have been charged with assaulting police officers. He quickly diverted to another topic. . He then claimed that no one was killed on January 6 and that “no one had a gun here either.”
Several people died as a result of the riot at the Capitol, and Kurz noted that some of the rioters were armed. Mr. Trump has professed ignorance about this, a fact that has been extensively documented.
“Well, really? I want to know. You mean there was a rally going on, or was there a gun in the house?” he said. “Really? Well, I didn’t hear that at all. No, I don’t think so. They didn’t have guns.”
Trump again falsely described January 6 as “peaceful” and that his loss in the 2020 election was fraudulent. He then tried to talk about an unrelated protest in Portland, Oregon, a few months ago.
“We’re going to go back to a different situation,” Kurtz said. “I’m talking about that day.”
“I’m talking about a different situation,” Trump acknowledged.
‘I don’t know’
Trump similarly deflected when Kurtz pressed him to admit that his claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets was false. Mr. Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, began spreading debunked claims in September that led to widespread bomb threats against schools and government offices and harassment of Haitians.
“You say you’re just reporting what you’re told,” Kurtz said. “But why not now say, ‘Look, it turns out that’s not true’?”
“I don’t know if that’s true. I read something-” Trump said, but Kurtz interrupted to emphasize that the claim had been debunked. .
“What about the geese? What about the geese? What about the geese? What happened there?” Trump responded to a related and debunked claim that Haitian immigrants were stealing geese. mentioned and requested. “They were all missing. I don’t know, Howie, Howie, Howie, I have no idea.”
Mr. Trump suggested that his message that immigrants cause social tension was true, again claiming he had read horror stories to support his claims.
“Why don’t you go after the newspaper that wrote it? Don’t blame me.”
“I think it’s accurate.”
Asked about his comment that “domestic enemies” pose a greater threat to the United States than foreign enemies, Mr. Trump did not deflect.
Trump’s critics point to the remarks as evidence that Trump uses the government to target political opponents. Kurtz said this is “a pretty creepy word when you’re talking about other Americans.”
“I think that’s accurate. I mean, I think that’s accurate,” Trump responded.
Some of Mr. Trump’s allies have tried to argue that Mr. Trump is applying the term to illegal immigrants. On Sunday, he once again made it clear that he was talking about political opponents.
When Kurtz asked who his “enemy from within” was, Trump pointed to California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“For me they are the enemy from within,” he said.
