{"id":108,"date":"2025-11-03T15:35:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T15:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/?p=108"},"modified":"2025-12-12T02:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T02:47:54","slug":"the-54-most-absurd-lines-from-donald-trumps-60-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/?p=108","title":{"rendered":"The 54 most absurd lines from Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview \u23f1\ufe0f"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thank you for your attention to this matter!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@chriscillizza\">Chris Cillizza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nov 03, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One year to the day of Donald Trump suing CBS News for an utterly specious claim that the network deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris, the president sat down with anchor Norah O\u2019Donnell for a 90(!)-minute interview over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While CBS didn\u2019t run the entire interview on \u201c60 Minutes\u201d Sunday night, they&nbsp;<em>did<\/em>&nbsp;provide a full transcript of the conversation. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-full-transcript-norah-odonnell-60-minutes-interview-with-president-trump\/\">You can see it here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I went through it line by line to pick out the stuff from Trump you&nbsp;<em>really<\/em>&nbsp;need to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>This is a paywalled post. I am the only political reporter forensically examining what Trump says \u2014 and it takes time!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>I hope that if you aren\u2019t a paid subscriber yet, you consider becoming one today. I am independent \u2014 of the two political parties and of the big billionaires and corporate conglomerates that own legacy media outlets these days. When you donate to me, it goes DIRECTLY to my efforts to build a career as an independent news creator. It\u2019s $6 a month or $60 for the whole year!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To the Lines!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe had the COVID moment, which was not&#8211; attractive as far as I was concerned. I wasn\u2019t so happy.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Donnell started off by asking Trump how he got along with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Good to know that the Covid-19 pandemic was not \u201cattractive\u201d to Trump. And away we go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWell, I got sort of everything that we wanted.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/10\/30\/trump-xi-south-korea-rare-earth-tariff-trade-war-nvidia.html\">Reviews<\/a>&nbsp;of what Trump (and the United States) actually got out of the meeting with Xi are much more mixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI mean, we have tremendous rare earth, and it\u2019s going to be&#8211; you know, it\u2019s going to be&#8211; it\u2019ll be a strength, but it won\u2019t really be a strength if everybody has it. Everyone\u2019s gonna have it pretty soon.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTremendous rare earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"4\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe met in South Korea, as you saw, right? A lot of people watched.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I never ceases to amaze me that Trump feels the need to point out that lots of people watched an international summit he was involved in. Like, you are the president! You don\u2019t need to worry about ratings! People will watch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"5\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cRight now we\u2019re winning it because we\u2019re producing electricity like never before by allowing the companies to make their own electricity, which was my idea, which nobody, frankly, had thought of.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Humility, thy name is Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get ALL of Trump\u2019s quotes (and my analysis of them) by becoming an investor in this newsletter. It\u2019s $6 a month or $60 for the whole year. Support the journalism you want to see in the world!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"6\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cAnd we are leading the AI race right now by a lot. We are leading it by numbers that people have no idea.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Every time Trump says&nbsp;<em>anything<\/em>&nbsp;about AI, I become more convinced he has zero idea what it is and what it is doing to transform society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"7\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe\u2019ve been very, very far-reaching for it&#8211; th&#8211; look, that\u2019s the new internet. That\u2019s the new everything all put together.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>See #6<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"8\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThey can produce things that we don\u2019t want to produce because it\u2019s not really worth our while&#8211; making&#8211; undergarments, makin\u2019 this&#8211; you know, certain things.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUndergarments.\u201d \u2014 Donald Trump<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"9\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cAnd so instead of charging somebody a 100% tariff and you can make your product outside, they come in, and they make&#8211; and this is why we have $17 trillion being invested in the United States right now.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>[narrator voice]&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/10\/11\/politics\/fact-check-trump-17-trillion-investment\">We do not<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"10\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI don\u2019t want to give away&#8211; I can\u2019t give away my secrets.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"11\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI don\u2019t want to be one of these guys that tells you exactly what\u2019s gonna happen if something happens. The other side knows, but&#8211; I\u2019m not somebody that tells you everything because you\u2019re askin\u2019 me a question.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve always said that no one can keep a secret like Donald Trump. Wait\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"12\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWell, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. Russia\u2019s second.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icanw.org\/nuclear_arsenals#:~:text=Russia%20has%20the%20most%20confirmed,with%20over%205%2C500%20nuclear%20warheads.\">Actually, no<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LYFE!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6033bcd0-9bf1-4ae5-8e93-cb44b42a19ed_1140x500.svg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LYFE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6033bcd0-9bf1-4ae5-8e93-cb44b42a19ed_1140x500.svg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"13\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe have tremendous nuclear power that was given to us largely because when I was president (and I hated to do it, but you have to do it)&#8211; I rebuilt the military during my first term.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t hate to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"14\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cDoesn\u2019t it sorta make sense? You know, you make&#8211; you make nuclear weapons, and then you don\u2019t test. How are you gonna do that? How are you gonna know if they work?\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Truly bulletproof logic on display here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"15\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe have the best, and I was the one that renovated them and built them during a four-year period\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump both built and renovated our nuclear weapons arsenal. Did it all himself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"16\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cAnd in the meantime, I\u2019ve solved eight wars. I knocked out eight wars. I had eight wars&#8211; I brought a little list for you if you\u2019d like to see it&#8211; but I took eight wars and stopped during an eight-month period, during eight months.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI brought a little list for you if you\u2019d like to see it.\u201d He brought props!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"17\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThen the election was rigged and stolen, and all of a sudden you see them forming up at the line.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Broken record here but\u2026.there is<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/voter-fraud-election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-7fcb6f134e528fee8237c7601db3328f\">&nbsp;NO evidence the 2020 election was rigged or stolen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"18\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cJoe Biden was the worst president in the history of our country.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/Top_News\/US\/2024\/02\/19\/presidential-greatness-survey-2024-trump-biden\/9601708357197\/#google_vignette\">Historians rank Trump worst president in history, Lincoln the best<\/a><strong>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"19\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201c[Biden] had an open-border process, and people would come in, and I\u2019m not discriminating against tattoos, but people would come in with tattoos all over their faces, and say, \u2018Come on in, come on in, come on in.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!DFSQ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2a474161-13d9-4723-9b99-024b0ee8f2b9_960x1200.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!DFSQ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2a474161-13d9-4723-9b99-024b0ee8f2b9_960x1200.jpeg\" alt=\"Mike Tyson - Wikipedia\" title=\"Mike Tyson - Wikipedia\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Prominent Donald Trump supporter Mike Tyson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"20\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cVenezuela emptied their prisons into the United States of America.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/31\/world\/americas\/trump-crime-venezuela-us.html\">Simply not true<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"21\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be inclined to say that I would do that. But&#8211; because I don\u2019t talk to a reporter about whether or not I\u2019m gonna strike. I\u2019m not gonna&#8211; you know, you\u2019re a wonderful reporter, you\u2019re very talented, but I\u2019m not gonna tell you what I\u2019m gonna do with Venezuela, if I was gonna do it or if I wasn\u2019t going to do it.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>All I can think of is Kevin Nealon in that<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/saturdaynightlivefebruary91991s16e12convertvideoonline.com\">&nbsp;\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d skit about the Iraq war<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"22\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThey had no respect for Biden falling up the stairs going to an airplane three times. I mean, this is a man who should\u2019ve never been president. This was a rigged election.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/9_8U0d6zK9M?rel=0&#038;autoplay=0&#038;showinfo=0&#038;enablejsapi=0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"23\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cIf Kamala had won the election, our country right now would be finished.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>What would it look like for America to be \u201cfinished\u201d? Like just a burned-out hellscape, Mad-Max style?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"24\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cA year ago we were a dead country. Right now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. Think of that. And I did that in nine months.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"25\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI made Middle East peace. For 3,000 years they couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"26\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThey flied&#8211; they flew for 37 hours. Of course, I flew for thirty&#8211; 42 hours over the last three days, so I know how they feel.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>In which Trump directly compares his flying on Air Force One to Asia with the B-2 pilots who flew bombing raids over Iranian nuclear sites. Basically the same thing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"27\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cOur country was&#8211; it really started a very bad downward spiral. Then I stopped it, then we had a rigged election, and then&#8211; what&#8211; what Biden did to our country should never, ever be forgotten.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re counting (and I am) that is the third time in this interview that Trump has said the 2020 election was \u201crigged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"28\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cNo, I\u2019m with&#8211; I\u2019m on all policy.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!WwpK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dc3c28-6b23-4ce8-8d2c-e5c8a6f54b05_271x279.gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!WwpK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dc3c28-6b23-4ce8-8d2c-e5c8a6f54b05_271x279.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"29\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThese guys are very brave people. They\u2019re&#8211; they were beautiful-looking people. They were&#8211; they\u2019re real&#8211; I mean, they\u2019re real American heroes, and I thought they deserved to be invited.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s talking about the B-2 pilots. \u201cBeautiful-looking people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"30\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThey said, \u2018Sir, for 22 years we\u2019ve been practicing this route. Our predecessors,\u2019 obviously, before them&#8211; but \u2018our predecessors and ourselves, for 22 years we\u2019ve been practicing this hit, three times a year, every year, for 22 years. And you were the only president that let us do our job.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/07\/16\/politics\/sir-trump-telltale-word-false\/index.html\">\u201cSir\u201d alert<\/a>! (And these were big, \u201cbeautiful-looking\u201d guys. Probably had tears in their eyes too!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"31\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWhen you can hit at midnight with no moon, with no vision, every single air shaft, where that bomb went deep into that mountain and exploded and beat the hell out of it, I\u2019ll tell you what, they deserve to come to the White House.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Know who else executed a tricky bombing raid in less-than-ideal conditions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/6H0vFP_jXN4?rel=0&#038;autoplay=0&#038;showinfo=0&#038;enablejsapi=0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"32\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe had&#8211; wait a minute, we had nine wars on our planet. I solved eight of \u2018em.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you imagine the audacity required to think this \u2014 much less say it out loud?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"33\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI think we should do the nuclear option. This is a totally different nuclear, by the way. It\u2019s called ending the filibuster.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a totally different nuclear\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"34\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThe Democrats will do it. If they get into power and someday I guess they will. Who knows? It\u2019s hard to believe when they have men in women\u2019s sports, open borders, open everything, a transgender for everyone.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump goes from talking about how Democrats in the Senate will get rid of the legislative filibuster once they are back in power directly to [checks notes] \u201ctransgender for everyone\u201d????<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"35\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe have no inflation. We have no inflation. Biden had inflation, and he didn\u2019t have tariffs.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/usafacts.org\/answers\/what-is-the-current-inflation-rate\/country\/united-states\/\">Inflation is at 3%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"36\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI have very modest tariffs compared. Let me tell you.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You should have seen the tariffs he wanted to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/qGXQKqXVVxU?rel=0&#038;autoplay=0&#038;showinfo=0&#038;enablejsapi=0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"37\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cMany of them are people from frankly mental institutions. I feel badly about that, but they\u2019re released from insane asylums. You know why? Because they\u2019re killers.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of them are insane. Clowns. In a posse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"38\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cPeople walk&#8211; people in the White House, they walk up to me, young ladies I\u2019ve never seen. \u2018Sir, thank you very much.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/07\/16\/politics\/sir-trump-telltale-word-false\/index.html\">\u201cSir\u201d alert!<\/a>&nbsp;(He\u2019s talking about his crime crackdown in DC.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"39\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201c\u2018Sir, I now walk to work every day and I walk, I&#8211; I&#8211; I&#8211; I\u2019m so safe. I f&#8211; there\u2019s nothing going to happen.\u2019 100% safe.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/07\/16\/politics\/sir-trump-telltale-word-false\/index.html\">\u201cSir\u201d alert!<\/a>&nbsp;Back to back! Like the Dodgers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"40\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWell, I think I\u2019m a much better looking person than him, right?\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201chim\u201d here is Zohran Mamdani. Offered without comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"41\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it\u2019s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I\u2019m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!R1UZ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8c0e1d1e-24d6-4d93-9dcf-24a9a9ac25a8_480x320.gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!R1UZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8c0e1d1e-24d6-4d93-9dcf-24a9a9ac25a8_480x320.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"42\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cDo you know that some of the presidents, recent ones, have used it 28 times? Twenty-eight times. The Insurrection Act has been used routinely by presidents.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The last time the Insurrection Act was used by a president was in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Everything you need to know about the Insurrection Act<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!j4VO!,w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae34c566-0eaa-45c9-a7ee-c2aeeb7eddbb_1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Everything you need to know about the Insurrection Act\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not a subscriber yet? Become one today! You can subscribe for FREE to get most of my content delivered to your inbox. A PAID subscription is $6 a month or $60 a year and gets you access to ALL of my stuff and a bunch of other goodies too! Why subscribe? Because now more than ever you need an independent political journalist who isn\u2019t owned by ANYONE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\">Read full story<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5e0\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"43\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cNo, and not in any way, shape or form. No. You don\u2019t have to instruct \u2018em because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the honest people we have, Pam Bondi\u2019s doin\u2019 a very good job.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Donnell\u2019s question was whether Trump directed the DOJ to target his political enemies.<a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115239044548033727\">&nbsp;Um\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!R9D-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3503983e-b1de-49c8-941a-345ffc98e244_606x526.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!R9D-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3503983e-b1de-49c8-941a-345ffc98e244_606x526.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"44\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI\u2019m a very meticulous person too. I have files, beautiful.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Beautiful files. The most beautiful. Many people say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"45\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWell, I think primarily on the left. A little bit of both, but I think primarily on the left. I think they have to tone it down.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Political violence is not mostly on the left. I did a<a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\">&nbsp;deep dive on all of this<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Who\u2019s *really* to blame for political violence?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!neAq!,w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F60c5e376-3d48-4c59-9c6f-8501459c4578_1024x676.jpeg\" alt=\"Who\u2019s *really* to blame for political violence?\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just after noon on Monday, I tuned into the Charlie Kirk show \u2014 featuring Vice President JD Vance.<a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\">Read full story<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/chriscillizza.substack.com\/p\/whos-really-to-blame-for-political\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"46\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWell, I don\u2019t even think about it. I will tell you, a lotta people want me to run.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>He talked about it TWICE last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"47\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cSo I don\u2019t wanna start talking about elections. It\u2019s too early. One thing I can tell you, the 2020 election was rigged.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s four times he\u2019s called the election \u201crigged\u201d in this interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"48\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cAnd a lotta people say when it\u2019s rigged you\u2019re allowed to do it again. It was rigged. And it\u2019s been caught. And they&#8211; and you see the same information that everybody else does. And it\u2019s coming out now in spades.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd a lotta people say when it\u2019s rigged you\u2019re allowed to do it again.\u201d If he tries to run again in 2028, this \u201clogic\u201d will be at the heart of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"49\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cHe has been terrible. Other than he\u2019s got a good line of&#8211;bullshit, that\u2019s all it is.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope one day someone says this about me. (Trump is talking about Gavin Newsom.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"50\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cBut\u00a0<\/strong><em><strong>60 Minutes<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0was forced to pay me&#8211; a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad, it was election-changing, two nights before the election.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Paramount paid off Trump because they wanted&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paramount.com\/press\/skydance-media-and-paramount-global-complete-merger-creating-next-generation-media-company\">their merger with Skydance&nbsp;<\/a>to go through. Period. It had zero to do with anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"51\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cEven President Xi, he said, \u2018I\u2019d like you&#8211; you to be congratulated.\u2019 He said it so beautifully. \u2018I\u2019d like you to be congratulated on the incredible job you did in bringing back the United States of America.\u2019 President Xi said that to me.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I wonder why?!?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"52\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cI worry about everything, you know? I mean, you know, I\u2019m a worrier. I worry.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>SAME.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"53\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cOkay, are you ready? I don\u2019t know who he is.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201che\u201d is Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Who Trump pardoned last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/qVmRruCncko?start=66s&#038;rel=0&#038;autoplay=0&#038;showinfo=0&#038;enablejsapi=0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"54\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cWe\u2019re number one in crypto in the whole world. Other people wanna be. They\u2019re fighting like hell to be. But we\u2019re number one in crypto because I\u2019m the president. Biden wanted to also, at the very end, you know, he totally switched his thing.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe totally switched his thing.\u201d Yeah, this feels like a good place to end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thank you for your attention to this matter! Chris Cillizza Nov 03, 2025 One year to the day of Donald Trump suing CBS News for an utterly specious claim that the network deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris, the president sat down with anchor Norah O\u2019Donnell for a 90(!)-minute interview over the weekend. While&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ledewire_sync_enabled":true,"_ledewire_price_cents":50,"_ledewire_teaser":"","_ledewire_use_excerpt":true,"_ledewire_paywall_enabled":true,"_ledewire_content_id":"94194862-9f13-4447-9b0e-f8a285ae29c5","_ledewire_sync_status":"synced","_ledewire_last_sync":"2025-12-12 02:47:55","_ledewire_error_message":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speech-analysis"],"ledewire_meta":{"sync_enabled":"1","price_cents":"50","teaser":"","use_excerpt":"1","paywall_enabled":"1","content_id":"94194862-9f13-4447-9b0e-f8a285ae29c5","sync_status":"synced","last_sync":"2025-12-12 02:47:55","error_message":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris-cillizza.ledewire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}