Longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone was caught on audio explaining how he allegedly manipulated the former president for decades.
Mr Stone, who served as a formal adviser to Mr Trump during his first presidential campaign, is the subject of the Danish documentaryA Storm Foretold which refers to Mr Stone as “Trump’s political godfather.”
Despite Mr Stone publicly boasting about Mr Trump’s abilities and image, in private it seems he felt differently.
In footage obtained by The Daily Beast, Mr Stone is caught being recorded at a distance saying: “I have a 40-year record of being able to convince the big man to do what’s in his best interest.”
From the description, it seems Mr Stone is unaware he is being recorded when he explains a hypothetical situation where he manipulates Mr Trump.
“You have to say, ‘Remember that night when we were in Buffalo. And you gave that speech, and God, it had to be 10,000 people, the biggest crowd they’d ever seen. And you saying XYZ and the place went crazy – remember that? I don’t know where you came up with that line, but it’s one of the best things,” Mr Stone allegedly said.
Mr Stone then pretends to be Mr Trump and responds to his hypothetical statement: “Yeah I’m going to use that one again.”
According to Mr Stone, he has been using the strategy for 30 years.
“Doesn’t f***ing matter that he never said it – doesn’t matter,” Mr Stone allegedly added. “It’s time-consuming, but it works. I did it for 30 years.”
The Independent has reached out to Mr Stone for comment.
The audio of Mr Stone explaining how he manipulates Mr Trump is juxtaposed with footage of him publicly praising the former president to an audience of Trump supporters.
A Storm Foretold is directed by Christoffer Guldbrandsen. It was released in Denmark in March.
