Former President Trump slammed the "very dishonest" media for taking his statements out of context in an interview with Dr. Phil where he corrected the record.
TV personality Dr. Phil is set to air interviews with Trump and his former independent opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Dr. Phil shared a preview clip of his interview with the former president on Monday on X, noting that media outlets can be outright hostile to Trump's reputation.
"They demonize you a lot," Dr. Phil observed the preview clip. "They make a big deal out of the fact that you said, ‘You’re only gonna have to vote one time, you elect me you’re only gonna have to vote one time.’"
Speaking at a Turning Point Action event in July, the former president said, "You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians," later adding, "You’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote."
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Some commentators portrayed this as a statement that if he is elected again there will be no more elections because he will never give up power, but Trump gave more context, arguing that this is completely inaccurate.
"I said to the Christians, we’ve gotta win this election. If we win this election, I’ll straighten everything out in less than 4 years by a lot," he said. "Then you don’t have to, it doesn’t matter. In other words, I’m saying you don’t have to vote- it doesn’t mean we’re not gonna have elections! You’re gonna have elections, but you have to vote this time, because we have to win. This is the most important election in the history of our country."
Dr. Phil confirmed, "So you didn’t mean, ‘Vote me in once, because I ain’t ever leaving.' You’re meaning, ‘This is an important one, vote this time?’"
"Of course that’s what I meant," Trump replied. "And I said it, and everybody knows I said it that way, and everybody agrees that I said it in that way."
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Trump brought up another quote he said has been taken out of context as well. The former president turned some heads during a town hall discussion on Fox News' "Hannity" last December, when he quipped he would be a "dictator" for a single day if reelected because, "I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill." He later added, "After that, I'm not a dictator."
Trump recalled the statement to Dr. Phil, "And I said jokingly on Sean Hannity, he’s a great guy, I said ‘No, Sean, I wanna be a dictator for one day because I’m gonna get going with Drill, Baby, Drill and I’m gonna strengthen the borders to a level like you’ve never seen, I only wanna-be, and after that, I’ll never be a dictator.’"
He summarized his past comment in a nutshell, saying that while he and his audience mutually understood it to be humorous, the media took it out of context.
"And I said ‘one day,’ because I wanna do the energy and I wanna strengthen the border, one day, and it was said with a chuckle, the audience laughed, I laughed, we all laughed," he said. "But they take it and they cut it, and then they cut it, and it says ‘I wanna be a dictator.’ These are very dishonest people that we’re dealing with. Very dishonest people. Bad people."
When asked by Dr. Phil if the statement indeed was taken out of context, the former president replied, "All you have to do is watch it."
