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US President Donald Trump but angrily stormed out of an interview with broadcaster NBC on Sunday after he was confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
“You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired at the weekend.
The interview, filmed on Friday, was conducted on a farm in Wisconsin, where Trump was addressing farmers. A tractor and hay bales served as a backdrop.
The interview was interrupted several times by weather and audio issues as torrential rain pounded the roof, making it difficult to continue the conversation.
“Is that wind or what?” Trump asked at one point.
“Hear that sound?” he said later. “That sound of thunder, lightning, rain.”
Welker asked her technical crew if they should stop.
“No. People will understand, we’re on a farm,” the president replied.
Several questions followed about Iran, nuclear weapons and his campaign pledges to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” he said, then accusing Welker of being “a big liberal, a big progressive.”
“No, I’m just a journalist,” she countered.
Trump went on to say: “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”
The tone escalated again as the discussion turned to Trump’s proposed taxpayer-funded programme to compensate people he believes were victims of partisan prosecution under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponisation fund,” he said. “I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden…they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.”
“There is no evidence for what you’re saying,” Welker said.
Trump reiterated past false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” and said last week’s primary in California was, too.
Welker held her ground, asking the president to present evidence.
“You are either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump finally shot back before leaving the camera’s view while Welker attempted to keep him engaged.
On Sunday, Welker told viewers that she had spoken with Trump on Saturday about the weather disruptions and that he had agreed to give her another interview.
Additional sources • AFP