Donald Trump appeared on Lex Fridman’s podcast on Tuesday and the former president is slowly realizing that internet-based media will be critical to reaching people in 2024. While this is not the first podcast Trump has produced, it is one of the larger ones. Well, this was one of the larger events until Joe Rogan potentially invited Trump to attend, which is something he talked about with Friedman.
Friedham asked Trump about psychedelics, the war in Ukraine and any secret alien files that might one day be released. Trump also said that he likes to post on Truth Social around the clock, but he gets criticized when he posts after 3 a.m. ET. The former president often writes particularly unhinged stuff on his social media platforms in the middle of the night.
“Trump tells the truth at three o’clock in the morning,” Trump said on the podcast, imitating the way he thought reporters spoke. “And there shouldn’t be a problem with that. When they think about time zones, how do they know the time zones, like the Eastern Zone?
Trump was visibly confused and got it wrong multiple times, including when he was referring to the daytime talk show “The View” when he talked about appearing on “The Answer” with Rosie O’Donnell. The former president also rambled about how Joe Biden “thinks he looks good in a bathing suit, but he doesn’t think so.”
One of the most awkward moments in Trump’s relatively short 45-minute chat (most Friedman interviews span several hours) came when he was asked about the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein Dan and any documents Trump might release if re-elected as president.
“Well, he’s a good salesman. You know, he’s a warm, passionate guy,” while hinting that he might release documents about Epstein.
In fact, Epstein was one of Trump’s friends, and there’s an incredibly creepy video of the two dancing in a lascivious appearance in the 1990s. Therefore, Trump is clearly lying about releasing any documents on this individual that the U.S. government may have locked up.
Friedman has always maintained that he is an independent, but has done his best to normalize Trump as another politician who ordinary people can vote their conscience. Friedman called Trump “a great dealmaker” and at one point even appeared to be strategizing for Trump, telling the former president, “When you talk about a positive vision for the future, you’re in At his best. Trump has no positive vision for the future, for what it’s worth.
This is actually the most dangerous element in this type of interview. At least when Trump appears on Fox News or some deranged right-wing podcast, the audience is made up entirely of people who voted for Trump. But Friedman is a little different. His chats can appeal to apolitical people, and there are likely to be many listeners who are less concerned with politics and will take it as an endorsement of Trump as a human being.
Trump is not normal. He’s a wannabe fascist and tried rapist whose dark vision for the country includes breaking up families, denying women access to health care, and executing those he believes have betrayed him. Obviously none of this stuff came from Friedman, who was a terrible interviewer and got nothing out of him other than fetching water for a dangerous man.
The podcast is available on YouTube, but if you don’t want to watch the entire thing, we’ve included a summary list below.
- Trump chatted about new media beyond television with such genius lines as “the whole platform is changing a lot.”
- Friedman asked Trump what specific steps he would take to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump said his usual nonsense that he was going to end the conflict with Russia, but didn’t want to reveal too much, saying “I can’t give you those plans.”
- Trump complained about Harris giving a “softball” interview with Friedman, complaining about it being a funny thing to do.
- Trump said the possibility of World War III was “very high.”
- Trump said replacing Joe Biden on the ballot was a “coup” and stuttered repeatedly as he tried to talk about how Biden was being tested mentally.
- Trump falsely called the 2024 election a “fraud.”
- Trump falsely said undocumented immigrants voted in elections.
- Trump falsely claims other countries are emptying mental hospitals into the U.S.
- Trump called the assassination attempt “not a pleasant experience.”
- Friedman asked Trump about Plan 2025, and the former president said he had not yet read the 900-page policy document. Trump has tried to distance himself from the plan but acknowledged there are “some things I like” about it.
- Trump said he agrees with legalizing medical marijuana but hinted he doesn’t like recreational marijuana.
- Friedman told Trump he had recently taken ayahuasca and said the spiritual benefits could help members of Congress if they used it. Trump appeared confused during this part of the interview.
- “I thought I would do it, but no one asked me and I’m not going to ask them” about Joe Rogan’s podcast, Trump said.
- Trump acknowledged that his “retweets” on “The Truth Society” could get him in trouble, but failed to realize that his normal posts were equally fascistic and unhinged. “I call it my typewriter,” Trump said of his “Truth Society” post.
- Trump also denied calling the dead soldiers “fools and losers.”
- Trump has told numerous lies about Kamala Harris, including conspiracy theories that she is a secret communist.
- Trump said that when people attack him, he needs to “fight fire with fire.”
- Trump has repeatedly praised authoritarian figures, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
- Trump falsely said that without him, NATO would not exist.
- Trump said he has received more attention than “anyone in history.”
- Trump said: “Ideally, you should go to heaven, not hell. But if you behave well, you should go to heaven.
- Trump has also denied that using Arlington National Cemetery as a backdrop for a campaign ad violated federal law.
- In one of the only direct moments in the interview, Friedman noted that Trump was “somewhat hesitant” to release some documents about Epstein. Trump responded that he didn’t think he had any hesitation and insisted, “I’m not participating.”
Arguably the funniest line in the interview was Trump saying “I don’t talk about the past, I talk about the future,” which was pretty funny. This guy is talking about the past and how he got scammed in 2020. If this man were to take power again, he would pose a threat to American security.
Trump said at one point in the interview that he was “leading in the polls,” but now that Kamala Harris has joined the race, he’s actually in trouble. Harris is firmly ahead in national polls and slightly ahead in most battleground states by several different pollsters.
FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average currently shows Harris up 3.2 points. But until people actually go to the polls in November, no one knows exactly what will happen. While it’s unclear whether Friedman will vote for Trump, it almost doesn’t matter. The podcaster has already helped Trump more with this interview than with a single vote.
