Former President Donald Trump escalated his threats to prosecute political rivals if elected in November in a new interview aired Thursday, claiming “revenge can be justified” following his conviction on all 34 felony charges in his New York hush money trial.
During his interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, host of "Dr. Phil," Trump spoke at length about his criminal indictments. McGraw, for his part, said that Trump would have “so much to do” upon returning to the White House that he wouldn’t “have time to get even,” HuffPost reported.
To this, Trump replied: “Well, revenge does take time. And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil. I have to be honest. Sometimes it can.”
McGraw has used his platform in recent years to provide a "safe space for right-wing media personalities to spread hate and misinformation," in the words of the liberal monitoring group Media Matters, so it is not surprising that he would extend his sympathies to the former president and presumptive Republican nominee. He told Trump he was glad that he chose not to testify in his Manhattan trial, despite his claimed eagerness to do so. “I would throw myself in front of your car to keep you from testifying,” McGraw told him.
“I would have loved to have testified about those things, but he wouldn’t have allowed me to answer the questions properly,” Trump replied. “I’m telling you, they had to hold me back.”
The two also discussed writer E.Jean Carroll’s $83.8 million defamation verdict against Trump. Clearly undeterred by the whole fiasco, the former president, struggling to coherently express his thoughts, proceeded to attack her again during the interview.
“How about I get prosecuted from a person [sic], I have no idea who she is, I have to pay $91 million,” Trump told McGraw. “And that judge was just as bad, just as corrupt. I have to pay $91 million to a woman I have no idea who she is.”
“That case is a disaster, but I have no idea who she is,” he claimed.
