An interview with the president in the Oval Office
This column is the first of two I’m writing based on my interview with President Trump on Wednesday.
As I walked into to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump was going over new polls — some internal, some not — showing him tied or leading Joe Biden in key swing states.
“Pennsylvania tied. Florida, up one. Wisconsin, up one. Texas, up five. Arizona, Trump 49, Biden 45; North Carolina, Trump up three. And then Montana: Trump up a lot — 52-38,” he said.
While some in the Republican Party may be panicking over other polls showing an uphill climb for reelection, the president remains confident.
“I haven’t really even started to campaign yet,” he said. “Now, campaigning’s a little bit tough because of the coronavirus. This thing, what China did to us, is just unbelievable. We were sailing, it was unstoppable. And then, this happened. And it’s (a) shame, but now (we’ve) got to go back to work. But I think we’re doing really well.”
Our conversation turned to media coverage of his outstanding speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3. The speech, he said, “was actually not dark, it was the opposite of dark. What’s dark is the other side . ... They’re trying to take everything down. And I think they’re crazy, but I also think they’re evil. There’s an evilness to it.”
During his speech, Trump praised Abraham Lincoln for winning the Civil War and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and called slavery an “evil institution.” So why is Trump so adamant about defending Confederate memorials?
“Oh, I’m not,” the president said. “But I am adamant about defending the past. It’s part of our history. They’re taking down everything and they call it ‘cancel culture.’ ... They want to cancel everything. I actually said years ago . ... ‘Well, does that mean that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are next?’ And it turns out that they are next . ... I was sort of half-joking and people are now saying ‘Trump was right.’ These people are crazy. They’ve gone stone-cold crazy.”
I asked him point blank: “Do you support the peaceful protests?”
“Peaceful protests for racial justice? Absolutely. I support peaceful protests,” he said.
What he does not support is mob violence and cancel culture.
“You had people that were far-left radical maniacs, they were anarchists and they were agitators and you also had other people that were there and they didn’t know what they were doing. They got caught up in the whole thing.”
He believes his tough response has tamped down the violence.
“In Minneapolis, after a number of days of watching that fiasco, I demanded that the National Guard be sent in,” he said. “And as soon as they were in — I don’t know if you remember — they showed up, they lined up in the street, they walked through like butter being cut by a knife and it all ended. It was over.”
Trump also contends the Black Lives Matter movement preaches violence against police.
“You take a look at the people running it, they’re Marxists, they’re people that you don’t want,” he said. “And yet, they become almost like this wonderful group of people. And you look at what happened with the riots and you look at all of the things that have happened, I think it’s a very, very divisive group.”
I pointed out that millions of Americans have marched peacefully since the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day and that most are not for the cancel culture or violence against police, but they want racial justice.
“I do too,” Trump interrupted.
Trump also said he has no love for the Confederacy.
“I was born in New York, I’m against it . ... I am a Yankee. But I also believe in free speech and I believe in history. You can’t erase history. If you erase it, you’re going to repeat it.”
The president’s concern, he said, is that if you give in to the cancel culture, where does itend?
“You take out the Confederate? OK, good. Then they’re going to take out all opposition to the Confederates. I mean, they don’t want George Washington. . . I’ve seen them rip down statues (of) abolitionists. It will never stop.”
Trump is absolutely right to fight back against the cancel culture. And his message will resonate more than many in Washington realize.
“It takes guts to say what I say. The real hate is not the hate from me. The real hate is the hate from the other side on many of the things that we talk about.
“Maybe I’m a voice in the wilderness, but most people agree with me. And many won’t say it, and they might not even say it in a poll, but I think they’ll say it in an election.”