Axios’ Jim VandeHei Dishes on Interview With Trump: ‘He Was All Over the Place’
Axios reporter Jim VandeHei was somewhat unsettled on Thursday when he appeared on MSNBC to talk about his recent interview with President Trump.
Axios made news this week by taking Trump’s comments about rolling back birthright citizenship, and they just released a new portion where Trump defended his anti-media rhetoric in spite of its connection to recent acts of violence around the country.
When VandeHei joined Morning Joe to talk about the interview, he said Trump seemed much more at ease when he talked about his wars with his political enemies than he did while talking about actual policy.
“What was most fascinating, throughout the interview, that was where he seemed most comfortable,” VandeHei said. “He wanted that confrontation. He so believes that he is aggrieved, that he is like the victim of a media that’s more powerful than him. And then he also concedes that I feel aggrieved, but I also feel like my base demands it.”
Mika Brzezinski agreed with VandeHei’s assessment, saying Trump has “no command of the facts” but is quite comfortable using “evil ways of manipulating people’s thoughts” through his command of the media.
“It was actually a very frustrating interview until that point because when you talk to him about policy, he’s sort of all over the place,” VandeHei said. “It’s clear what he wanted to talk about on that day…it’s clear he never feels like he has an obligation to tone it down.”
“This stuff does matter, the words do matter. And if God forbid, people take that ‘enemy, enemy, enemy,’ what do you think people say about they take that enemy? They think, ‘this isn’t just my political opponent, it’s somebody that maybe they have to be hit. Maybe they have to be shot.’ That is the danger at the point at which we’re sitting at, and you know what? It’s going to get worse.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
[Image via screengrab]
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