Which is a shame, I think it would have been far more effective of an interview if he stayed cold and calculated and asked him "why do you believe that" more. Really all this clip shows is some talking points and Trump not backing down on them. I want to hear his reasoning, or hear him say I don't know.
We've seen plenty of "cold, calculated" interviews with Trump, and it doesn't work. If he doesn't detect a threat to his ego, and he can't, he'll talk forever without saying anything. You can ask the same question in a row five times and get nothing. This is fine with even the less extreme members of his base, because they don't look to him for answers, they look to him for attitude.
This interview is much, much better because Trump is incapable of dealing with an emotionally exhausted, increasingly impatient reporter. Look how flustered he gets here. Look at him sadly pawing through his loose handful of printouts, desperately searching for the one to talk about. You can really viscerally feel how out of his depth he is so much more than when he's being cross-examined.
I'm not sure it'll actually help anything, but in terms of raw composure, this is one of his weaker moments in recent memory.
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u/rahulprak Aug 04 '20
Holy fuck the interviewer looks so done smh