Trump ends interview with NPR early following questions on election fraud
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Former President Donald Trump spoke with NPR on Tuesday in a brief interview cut down from 15 minutes to just over nine, after the ex-president hurried off the phone when pressed on his continued allegations of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, NPR reports.
Speaking with Steve Inskeep, Trump also discussed the COVID-19 vaccine (he recommends the shot, but doesn't believe in mandates) and briefly touched on the 2022 midterms. But when the conversation turned to the 2020 vote, Trump "repeatedly attempted to assert misinformation about his election loss" before abruptly ending the interview, NPR writes.
As Inskeep pressed, Trump peddled "excuse after excuse," NPR reports — "it was 'too early' to claim fraud, his attorney was no good, things just seem suspicious." The tone of the interview reportedly changed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
When Inskeep then asked if Republicans running in 2022 must back Trump's fraud claims should they want earn his endorsement, Trump replied, "What they have to do, they're going to do."
Fraud "shouldn't be allowed to happen," he went on. "And the only way it's not going to happen again is you have to solve the problem of the presidential rigged election of 2020."
Inskeep tried to continue, but, per the interview's transcript, couldn't get a full question out before Trump thanked him and hung up.
Read the full transcript and write-up at NPR.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
The EU’s war on fast fashionIn the Spotlight Bloc launches investigation into Shein over sale of weapons and ‘childlike’ sex dolls, alongside efforts to tax e-commerce giants and combat textile waste
-
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast: a ‘highly entertaining ride’The Week Recommends Mystery-comedy from the creator of Derry Girls should be ‘your new binge-watch’
-
The 8 best TV shows of the 1960sThe standout shows of this decade take viewers from outer space to the Wild West
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Kurt Olsen: Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer playing a major White House roleIn the Spotlight Olsen reportedly has access to significant US intelligence
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
