I Factchecked Trump’s Big Politico Interview – Because Politico Didn’t!
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Jonathan Swan
9 min read
The article specifically praises Swan's Axios interview with Trump as the rare exception to poor presidential interviewing. Understanding Swan's journalistic approach and career provides context for what effective adversarial interviewing looks like.
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Sadiq Khan
14 min read
The article references Trump's 'racist rant against the Muslim mayor of London' without naming him. Understanding Khan's background, his tenure as London's first Muslim mayor, and Trump's history of attacks on him provides important context.
It has been more than 10 years since Donald J. Trump came down his golden escalator in New York to become the most consequential national political figure of our lifetimes, and yet, 10 months into his second term as president, our mainstream media still has no clue about how to interview him.
Frustratingly, over the past decade, there has been a litany of televised embarrassments and car crashes involving prominent journalists and this particular president. With the exception of Jonathan Swan’s award-winning Axios interview with Trump during the pandemic, it is difficult to think of a single on-camera sitdown in which Trump was truly discomfited by probing questions, tough follow-ups, or forensic factchecks.
On Monday, Politico added its own offering to the mix, trumpeting a “wide-ranging” 45-minute interview with the president in the White House conducted by the outlet’s White House bureau chief Dasha Burns. This is the same Burns whom Trump berated on Air Force One just a few weeks ago while calling Politico “fake news.”
So what was Trump doing sitting down with her? “I mean, I’m doing this because you picked me as the man for Europe,” the president acknowledged to Burns midway through their conversation. Yes, Politico FIFA-ed Trump into giving them an interview.
Having flattered Trump into an interview, Politico then flattered him with a series of softball questions. “Is it time for Ukraine to hold an election?” “Is there anyone else in the GOP that can energize the coalition the way you did?” Or my favorite: “I wonder, sir, what grade would you give your economy right now?” You’ll never guess what grade Trump gave to himself.
During the so-called interview, the president went on a racist rant against the Muslim mayor of London, and Burns said… nothing. He went on a racist rant against Somali-Americans in Minnesota, ending his tirade: “The Democrats are running some bad ships.” Burns’s response? “Speaking of ships, I do want to talk about boat strikes.” (I. AM. NOT. MAKING. THIS. UP.)
Trump, the biggest fabulist in modern American history, lied and lied and lied, with no pushback whatsoever from Burns. And, remember, Trump’s lies are repeat lies: he tells them again and again, from interview to interview, from stump speech to stump speech. Anyone planning an interview with the president should obviously be ready
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