Trump Talks About Sending Tweets at 3 A.M. and His Pal Jeffrey Epstein on Lex Fridman Podcast

Donald Trump made an quality connected Lex Fridman’s podcast Tuesday arsenic the erstwhile president has dilatory travel to recognize that internet-based media is captious to reaching radical successful 2024. And portion it’s not the archetypal podcast Trump has ever done, it is 1 of the larger ones—right up determination with the tech-focused All-In podcast, which Trump appeared connected back successful June. Well, 1 of the larger ones until Joe Rogan perchance invites Trump on, thing helium talked astir with Fridman.

Fridamn asked Trump astir psychedelic drugs, the warfare successful Ukraine, and immoderate concealed alien files that mightiness beryllium released someday. Trump besides said that helium loves to constitute connected Truth Social astatine each hours, but that helium gets disapproval erstwhile helium posts aft 3 a.m. ET. The erstwhile president often writes peculiarly unhinged things successful the mediate of the nighttime connected his societal media platform.

“Trump was truth-ing astatine 3 o’clock successful the morning,” Trump said connected the podcast, mimicking however helium thinks reporters talk. “And determination should beryllium nary occupation with that. When they deliberation astir clip zones, however bash they cognize about, like, you know, successful a clip zone, similar an Eastern zone?”

Trump intelligibly got precise confused and misspoke a fig of times, including erstwhile helium talked astir appearing connected “The Answer” with Rosie O’Donnell erstwhile helium meant the daytime speech amusement “The View.” The erstwhile president besides rambled astir however Joe Biden “thinks helium looks bully successful a bathing suit, which helium doesn’t.”

One of the much awkward moments during Trump’s comparatively abbreviated 45-minute chat (most Fridman interviews are respective hours), was erstwhile helium was asked astir the precocious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and immoderate files that Trump mightiness merchandise if helium becomes president again.

“Um, helium was a bully salesman. He was, you know, a hailing, hearty benignant of guy,” portion suggesting helium mightiness merchandise files connected Epstein.

In reality, Epstein was 1 of Trump’s friends and there’s an incredibly creepy video of the 2 dancing with their lecherous looks successful the 1990s. So Trump is intelligibly lying astir releasing immoderate files the U.S. authorities whitethorn person locked up astir the guy.

Fridman kept insisting he’s an autarkic but did everything successful his powerfulness to normalize Trump arsenic conscionable different person that regular radical could ballot for with a cleanable conscience. Fridman called Trump “a large dealmaker,” and astatine 1 constituent adjacent seemed to beryllium doing governmental strategizing for Trump, telling the erstwhile president, “you are astatine your champion erstwhile you’re talking astir a affirmative imaginativeness of the future.” Trump doesn’t person a affirmative imaginativeness for the future, for immoderate it’s worth.

And that’s really the astir unsafe constituent of interviews similar these. At slightest erstwhile Trump appears connected Fox News oregon immoderate unhinged right-wing podcast, the assemblage is already made up exclusively of radical voting for Trump. But Fridman is simply a small different. His chats tin entreaty to apolitical people, and determination are astir apt galore listeners who don’t attraction overmuch astir authorities and volition perceive this arsenic an endorsement of Trump arsenic a mean individual.

Trump isn’t normal. He’s a wannabe fascist and adjudicated rapist whose acheronian imaginativeness for the state includes tearing isolated families, denying women the close to wellness care, and literally executing people who helium believes person betrayed him. And obviously, nary of that worldly was brought up by Fridman, a unspeakable interviewer who achieves thing but carrying h2o for a unsafe man.

The podcast is disposable connected YouTube, but if you don’t privation to beryllium done the full thing, we’ve got a database summarizing it below.

• Trump rambled astir newer forms of media extracurricular of TV with genius lines like, “The full level of level is changing a lot.”
• Fridman asked Trump what he’d specifically bash to negociate an extremity to the warfare successful Ukraine. Trump said his accustomed bullshit that he’d extremity the struggle with Russia but didn’t privation to springiness distant excessively much, saying “I can’t springiness you those plans.”
• Trump complained that Harris had a “softball” interrogation with Harris, which is simply a comic happening to kick astir successful the mediate of a softball interrogation with Fridman.
• Trump said determination was a “great possibility” of World War III.
• Trump said replacing Joe Biden connected the summons was a “coup,” and repeatedly stumbled implicit his words trying to speech astir however Biden is mentally checked out.
• Trump falsely said the 2024 predetermination was a “fraud.”
• Trump falsely said undocumented immigrants ballot successful elections.
• Trump falsely said different countries are emptying their intelligence institutions into the U.S.
• Trump called the effort connected his beingness “not a pleasant experience.”
• Fridman asked Trump astir Project 2025 and the erstwhile president said helium hadn’t work the 900-page argumentation document. Trump tried to region himself from the program but admitted determination are “some things I like” astir it.
• Trump said helium agrees with the legalization of aesculapian cannabis but suggested helium doesn’t similar recreational weed.
• Fridman told Trump that helium precocious did ayahuasca and said the spiritual benefits could assistance members of Congress if they utilized it. Trump conscionable seemed precise confused during that information of the interview.
• Trump said “I conjecture I’d bash it, but I haven’t been asked and I’m not asking them” astir the Joe Rogan podcast.
• Trump acknowledged his “reposts” connected Truth Social tin get him successful trouble, without recognizing that his mean posts are conscionable arsenic fascist and unhinged. “I telephone it my typewriter,” Trump said of his Truth Social posts.
• Trump besides denied calling dormant soldiers “suckers and losers.”
• Trump spewed galore lies astir Kamala Harris, including conspiracy theories astir her being a concealed Communist.
• Trump said helium needs to “fight occurrence with fire” erstwhile radical are attacking him.
• Trump repeatedly praised authoritarian figures, including Hungary’s premier curate Viktor Orban.
• Trump falsely said NATO wouldn’t beryllium without him.
• Trump said he’s gotten much publicity than “anybody who’s ever lived.”
• Trump said, “you’re expected to spell to heaven, ideally, not hell. But you’re expected to spell to eden if you’re good.”
• Trump besides denied breaking national instrumentality erstwhile helium utilized Arlington National Cemetery arsenic the backdrop for his campaign commercial.
• In 1 of the lone nonstop moments of the interview, Fridman pointed retired that Trump “had immoderate hesitation” astir releasing immoderate of the documents connected Epstein. Trump responded that helium didn’t deliberation helium had immoderate hesitation and insisted “I’m not involved.”

Arguably the funniest enactment of the interrogation was Trump saying “I don’t speech astir the past, I speech astir the future,” which is rather hilarious. All this feline talks astir is the past and however helium was cheated successful 2020. But Trump’s rhetoric isn’t precise comic overall. It’s a menace to the information and information of the U.S. if this antheral takes powerfulness again.

Trump said astatine 1 constituent successful the interrogation that he’s “leading successful the polls,” but he’s really struggling present that Kamala Harris has entered the race. Harris has taken a coagulated pb successful nationalist polls, arsenic good arsenic flimsy leads successful astir battleground states, crossed respective antithetic pollsters.

FiveThirtyEight’s nationalist polling mean presently has Harris up 3.2 points. But cipher knows for definite what’s going to hap until radical really spell to the polls successful November. And portion it’s not wide whether Fridman volition ballot for Trump, it astir doesn’t matter. The podcaster has already helped Trump with this interrogation much than a azygous ballot ever could.