(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson made broadcast-media history Wednesday night by amassing tens of millions of views in an hourlong interview that overshadowed the GOP presidential debate, which aired at the same time.
Along with disrupting the media landscape, Carlson asked Trump some out-of-the box questions, and the former president provided thoughtful answers on topics he typically doesn’t discuss publicly—including on millionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed prison suicide, Hillary Clinton’s concession call in 2016, Kamala Harris’s bizarre ramblings and the prospect for another civil war in America.
Here are five key takeaways from the Trump-Carlson interview:
- Trump Thinks Epstein Killed Himself, Tucker Says Otherwise
.@TuckerCarlson Asks Donald Trump Straight-Up, "Do You Think Epstein Killed Himself?"
"He was killed," asserted Carlson. "Your Attorney General [Bill Barr] clearly lied about the Epstein death." pic.twitter.com/5tFsQGib8G
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) August 24, 2023
The interview began with Trump explaining why he forewent the GOP debate—he said he’s so far ahead of the other candidates in the polls that it made little sense for him to participate—before Carlson quickly asked Trump whether he thinks Epstein killed himself.
The suspicious circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death are widely documented: Cameras by his cell allegedly malfunctioned the day before he was found dead in his Metropolitan Correctional Center prison cell on August 10, 2019; his cellmate was also inexplicably transferred the day before; guards failed to check on him throughout the night; and an independent examination of his body revealed injuries consistent with him being assaulted.
Despite those and other suspicious circumstances, “I think he probably committed suicide,” Trump told Carlson.
“He had a life with beautiful homes and beautiful everything, and all the sudden he’s incarcerated and not doing very well,” Trump said.
“I would say that he did, but there are a lot of people who think he was killed.”
Carlson, for his part, wasn’t buying Trump’s explanation.
“He was killed,” Carlson said. “Your attorney general [Bill Barr] clearly lied about the Epstein death.”
- Hillary Clinton Might Have Been Intoxicated the Night She Conceded the 2016 Election
President Trump reminisces about ending Hillary Clinton's political career:
"She goes crazy everytime she talks. She says 'he's not the president.' Well, I am the president. Hillary Clinton called me at 3:02 in the morning to congratulate me. She sounded very different." pic.twitter.com/8q1IdO0aNo
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 24, 2023
The interview inevitably touched on Hillary Clinton.
Trump initially referenced Clinton to underscore the hypocrisy of him being prosecuted for contesting the 2020 presidential election. But in doing so, he revealed something previously publicly unknown: that Clinton may have been intoxicated the night she lost the election in 2016.
“Hillary Clinton called me at 3:02 in the morning to congratulate me the night of the election,” Trump said.
“Did her voice crack?” Carslon asked, to which Trump responded: “Her voice was very different.”
The former president then suggested that Clinton may have prematurely imbibed in some celebratory substances—pointing out that she had been partying since the afternoon because she thought her victory was a shoe-in.
“Don’t forget, they were all celebrating at 5 in the afternoon,” he said.
- Trump on Kamala Harris’s Public Speaking: ‘It’s Weird’
TRUMP ON VP HARRIS: "She speaks in rhyme. It's weird."
'The bus will go here and then, the bus will go there, because that's what buses do.'
"The whole thing is weird." pic.twitter.com/Bo9415yJn9
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 24, 2023
In speaking about his potential opponents in the 2024 race, Trump said he wouldn’t mind running against Joe Biden due to his deteriorating mental condition.
Trump said he wouldn’t be surprised if Biden doesn’t run again. But that doesn’t make Vice President Kamala Harris the next logical choice because she’s almost as discombobulated as her running mate.
“She has some bad moments. Her moments are almost as bad as his, actually … She speaks in rhyme,” Trump said. “It’s weird. She has bad moments.”
An amused Carlson asked Trump what he meant by saying Harris speaks in “rhyme,” and he referenced her bizarre, stream-of-consciousness ramblings.
“Well, the way she talks: ‘The bus will go here, then the bus will go there. Because that’s what busses do. It’s weird. The whole thing is weird. This is not a president of the United States’ future.
Twitter users were quick to find the exact Harris moment Trump was referencing:
— 𝗠𝗙𝗖𝗘𝗢 🤨 (@TykSullivan) August 24, 2023
- North Korea Was Expecting Nuclear War
🚨 | ☢️ Trump Believes He Prevented NUCLEAR WAR With North Korea 🇰🇵 pic.twitter.com/oZ2WH0f2f1
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) August 24, 2023
Turning back to a more substantial topic, Trump recounted his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2019.
According to Trump, Kim was prepared to go nuclear over his increasingly hostile relationship with the West.
“If Hillary had gotten in, or if the Obama thought process continued, it would have been nuclear war. [Kim] was expecting to go into war, and it would have been a nuclear war,” Trump said.
“We would have 40,000 dead soldiers right now. They would have dropped a nuke right on top of the military base [in South Korea],” he said.
Trump helped thaw the U.S. relationship with North Korea by becoming the first American President to visit the country. After initially blaring unfounded propaganda that Trump would lead the U.S. into nuclear war, the media quickly pivoted at that time to criticizing him for “cozying up with dictators.”
“I got along with him great. And you know, that’s a positive,” Trump said.
“The press said, ‘He said nice thinks about Kim Jong Un.’ I also said horrible things about him at the beginning. Horrible enough that he wanted to talk. And we had unbelievable meetings.”
- Civil War 2?
Tucker: "Do you think we're moving towards Civil War?"
Trump: "There's a level of passion I've never seen and there's a level of hatred I've never seen. That's probably a bad combination." pic.twitter.com/LsYm2C7UF2
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 24, 2023
Carlson’s final question to Trump was whether he thinks the country is headed to another civil war.
Carlson asked the question as Democrats try to jail their most popular political opponent, and major left-leaning outlets such as the New York Times calling to end elections.
“Do you think it’s possible there’s open conflict?” Carlson asked.
“I don’t know. I can say this: There’s a level of passion I’ve never seen, and there’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen,” Trump replied. “And that’s probably a bad combination.”
Trump painted the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest-turned-riot as a microcosm of the country’s political climate.
“There’s tremendous passion, and there’s tremendous love. January 6 was a very interesting day because they don’t report it properly. I believe it’s the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken before,” he said.
“A very small group of people … that day went down there [to storm the Capitol], but people in the crowd said it was the most beautiful day,” he added.
“I have never seen so much passion and love, and I have also never seen simultaneously, and from the same people, such hatred of what they’ve done to our country.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
