Former United States President Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR by hanging up after Steve Inskeep challenged the Republican businessman's claims that the 2020 elections were a fraud.
The discussion aired on Wednesday on NPR's "Morning Edition" after the two individuals spoke the day before. In a Twitter post, Inskeep said that he was asking Trump for an interview for the past six years and the former president "came on the line today." He noted that the Republican businessman then hung up on him.
Trump's Fraud Election Claims
The interviewer said that he questioned Trump regarding how he was "telling Republicans in 2022 that they must press your case on the past election in order to get your endorsement? Is that an absolute?" Trump replied by saying that GOP members were free to do whatever they wanted but noted that the smart ones will know what to make of the issue.
The former president said that people were oblivious to the severity of the controversy and that they did not want it to happen again. Trump said the issue should never have been allowed to happen in the first place, Deadline reported.
The first part of the interview had Trump answering questions regarding the pandemic and vaccinations. The Republican businessman, whose administration spearheaded the development of the COVID-19 vaccines, recommended that residents get the coronavirus vaccines. However, he said that he was fully against making the vaccines mandatory.
He said that the vaccine mandates were really hurting the United States and the people of the country. Trump also claimed that a lot of American citizens did not want the mandates and were standing up against the requirements.
Trump said that while he was recommending the vaccines, he said that the choice should be left to each individual. Republicans make up the majority of those who are against the mandatory vaccine requirements. Additionally, the Supreme Court is deciding on President Joe Biden's administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for large companies, NPR reported.
Abruptly Ending the Interview
At several points in the interview, Inskeep tried to press on Trump regarding the latter's claims of voter fraud during the 2020 elections. The co-host noted that the Republican businessman's failed lawsuits, saying even Trump's lawyers said they had no evidence of fraud. They said in court they had no evidence to show and the judges have ruled against Trump every time on the merits.
After a long conversation about the election results, Trump questioned how he could have possibly lost the fight against Biden. The Republican businessman falsely claimed that the Democrat did not attract crowds during the campaign.
When Trump continued to talk about his false claim that the 2020 elections were a fraud and that it was rigged, Inskeep tried to interject. At that moment, Trump abruptly ended the interview by thanking Inskeep and saying that he appreciated the opportunity. "Who, who, who, I have one more question. He's gone. OK," said Inskeep when he was trying to ask about a court hearing on Monday that was related to the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, the New York Times reported.
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