Jonathan Swan Embarrasses Trump During Disastrous Interview For President

So, we now have finally seen something rare: a reporter actually doing his job with Donald Trump. Yes, Jonathan Swan of Axios got a rare opportunity at an interview with Trump, and he put it to extremely good use. He showed the rest of the mainstream media how to do it, too, by taking Trump down with the simplest formula: press him, ask follow-up questions, and do not simply let him off the hook with misleading information and answers that do not actually address the most pressing issues facing the nation.              

It really was a rare opportunity for a journalist in this era of Trump. But Swan put it to good use.              

Very good use.              

Trump stumbled over his own answers. At times, he sounded like a defensive fifth grader being called out in front of the class for not having read the book for his book report. Trump tried to pass off his standard answers, but Swan was not having it. His face betrayed his confusion and bewilderment. He forced Trump to explain why he felt the United States was doing such a great job with the coronavirus pandemic, and Trump stumbled and committed errors. He tried to save himself by producing paperwork that would prove just what a great job he and his administration have done for the country, but again, Swan insisted on holding Trump accountable for the deaths.              

When Trump claimed that Swan could not do that, Swan asked him why he would not be able to do that. When Trump claimed that the Covid-19 rates were lower than many countries in the world, Swan forced Trump to prove it. Trump than started handing Swan the suspicious paperwork, while muttering that the rate here in the United States was “lower than the world.” Again, Swan held him to account.              

The presidency is a tough job. Not just anybody can do it, or is up to the task. And when Trump brags continuously about his performance on cognitive tests, and questions how well his opponent does, and when Trump also continuously proclaims himself to be a “very stable genius” who uses “the best words,” then we should be able to expect that he can stand up to just a little bit of scrutiny.              

Again, he is the elected president. And the presidency is a tough job. It is no joke. Nothing to take lightly, or to just put anybody in there. It is a high pressure job, and in the most serious instances, it can have serious consequences that can impact the lives of millions of people, and perhaps even billions of people. And these situations can happen at any moment.              

This year alone, we saw some very enormous news stories that have had a huge impact on the lives of tens of millions of Americans. There was the coronavirus pandemic, which quickly became a global pandemic. There was the economic crash, which produced more serious numbers in one economic quarter than not just the worst quarter of the Great Recession, but even of the Great Depression. And, of course, there were the riots that broke out by those taking advantage of often peaceful Black Lives Matter protests.              

Through all of it, Trump’s handling of these things has been questionable, at best. But when he holds press conferences, which he often walks out on whenever he is displeased, it is hard to hold him accountable. When he goes on Fox News and they give him soft questions, it is hard to hold him accountable. When tens of millions of loyal supporters continue to allow this man to get away with everything, and he in turn cowardly takes too much comfort and refuge in this, and closes down access to him in any meaningful way in the media, it becomes very hard, even almost impossible, to hold him accountable, at least to his face.              

So when this opportunity arises, it is time to take advantage. And Jonathan Swan did exactly that in this interview.              

Trump, who claims to have the best words, kept stumbling over his words, clearly uncomfortable and trying desperately to come across not even in a positive manner, so much as someone who actually has a clue of what he is doing. And he did not do a very good job of even that much. At one point, Trump claimed that the United States was last on the list of countries with coronavirus, and said: “We’re last, meaning we’re first.”              

Not for the first time, Trump sounded like a complete moron, and like a petty, narcissistic child. But it is rare when these things are not an unforced error, but rather come after someone put Trump’s feet to the fire regarding his performance. When asked about the late John Lewis, Trump refused to give him credit for anything. He repeatedly pointed out that Lewis did not come to his inauguration, and refused to attend his State of the Union addresses, claiming that it was a big mistake for him not to do so. Of course, this was not the first time that Trump made a point of disrespecting someone who had died, having done that repeatedly with John McCain.              

The interview went so poorly, that many people have pointed out just how quickly Trump ran back to Fox News at the earliest opportunity, where once again, he was spoon fed softball questions by accommodating media personalities friendly to his administration, and to his reelection aspirations.              

For once, though, we got to see Trump out of his comfort zone. For once, someone did not back down, but forced Trump to give answers that he was so clearly not prepared to give. For once, Trump stumbled on his words, and was faced with someone who’s face showed the confusion that we all feel with some of his answers. For once, we got to see what Trump is like when he actually is pressured, and it was not pretty.              

In fact, the interview was quite brutal and unforgiving.              

But then again, so is the presidency. And if we pretend like this has no significance or relevance, that Trump will be better at handling very serious – perhaps even deadly serious – emergency situations, than he was at handling this obviously tense interview, then we collectively as a nation deserve the level of incompetence that we get from him.              

Trump keeps proclaiming these huge success stories of his administration. He keeps claiming that the United States is, in fact, doing great. Better than ever before. And he keeps giving himself pretty much all of the credit for all of this supposed success.              

Since he has been elected to the presidency, it has become difficult to challenge this, to force Trump to prove it.              

When finally, someone was given the opportunity, and Trump thus was given his chance to actually sell his success in a way that the country could understand, he failed miserably, and predictably. Someone held him accountable for the failures that his sunny proclamations of tremendous success could not hide.  

And indeed, our worst suspicions were once again confirmed. The emperor wears no clothes. Trump really is a con artist, trying to sell the country on yet one more scam. He is trying to sell us snake oil, promising that his answers and his policies are doing great things for the country, but he finally was presented with the much grimmer and less friendly facts that contradicts his self-congratulatory approach.  

Trump has proven numerous times already that he is unfit to hold the high office he currently has. After this interview, there can be no doubt left that Trump has no answers, absolutely none for the country. And if we give him another term in office, then we will also have proven that we deserve no better answers than this known con man giving us his incoherent, quack solutions to problems that he clearly cannot even begin to grasp, let alone resolve.







Jonathan Swan reveals the simple secret to exposing Trump's lies: basic follow-up questions Analysis by Daniel Dale, CNN, Tue August 4, 2020: 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/politics/fact-check-jonathan-swan-axios-hbo-interview-trump-coronavirus/index.html




I also thought that this take on reactions to the interview by The Onion was quite funny, and would be worth sharing:

D.C. Journalists In Awe Of Australian Reporter Able To Speak To Trump Without Succumbing To His Raw Animal Magnetism, August 5, 2020VOL 56 ISSUE 31: 


https://www.theonion.com/d-c-journalists-in-awe-of-australian-reporter-able-to-1844620773?utm_campaign=The+Onion&utm_content=1596650176&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0o1rzCeI1ms2DgTjzhvb58r829tPY2ztGIx11OUnD6zROU7Z4sTUe4u7U