Tuesday, August 4, 2020 by Ben Abrams
If you haven’t already, watch Axios reporter Jonathan Swan's stunning interview with President Donald Trump originally taped on Tuesday, July 28, aired on Monday (August 3) as an exclusive on "Axios on HBO."
It’s a master’s class on journalism as Swan repeatedly exposed Trump’s incompetence to respond on multiple current topics from Trump's magical thinking on his response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, his well-wishes for accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, claims that China purposely sent the novel coronavirus to the US, mis-information on mail-in voting fraud, dismissed reports of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan and defending his decision not to attend Rep. John Lewis’s funeral because the Georgia congressman and civil rights leader “chose not to come to my inauguration.”
Australia born Swan became national political reporter for Axios in 2016 and has been covering Donald Trump for the past five years. He is a tough and confident interviewer that gives off a John Oliver vibe.
The episode starts out with a close up of a Black Lives Matter street sign with the camera panning to the White House. Swan can be seen being ushered into the white house where he is prepping for his interview with Trump. The president enters the room and gives a smug look to the crew as he sits down in a chair. In the background you can see Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany skirring to get out of frame as she enters the room.
Watch the full interview here:
The 37 minute interview is beyond words and an absolute disaster for the President. I'm surprised that Trump stayed on camera as long as his did and that his Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany still has a job.
Swan appeared on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” Tuesday (Aug 4) to discuss his viral Axios interview with the President from Monday night. In the follow up interview, Swan states that the most important element of the interview was the revelation of Trump’s own communication methods.
“This is what I was trying to get at with him in the interview. He always wants to sell and present the most positive spin on things, even if it bears no resemblance to reality. Whereas that might be appropriate for selling a commercial real estate property or hyping a reality TV show, when you’re talking about a whole bunch of people — millions of Americans who hang on his every word, many of whom are elderly and in the high-risk category — when you’re telling them this virus is under control, that’s not a harmless statement. That has real-world consequences. It is deadly serious” said Swan.
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