The campaign for Kamala Harris mocked Donald Trump over his sit-down with former daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw, in which the former president at one point suggested he could win California — if Jesus counted the votes.
In an hour-long interview posted to Dr. Phil's X account, Trump talked again about surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and commenting on the long odds he had to survive.
When asked if the harrowing event changed him as a person, Trump didn't answer the question and instead insisted being president is among the most dangerous jobs in the world.
"Being president is a dangerous job," he said. "Much more dangerous than being a race car driver or anything — it's probably the most dangerous profession if you think about it. Just go up and down the list."
Trump said he never realized "how dangerous" the job could be, and recalled he was at the border in Arizona and Secret Service agents warned him not to stand.
"People, especially with the kind of weapons they have today, people have shots. But it is it's an interesting, it's a great job, it's an interesting job, you can do so much good, but it's a dangerous job," he said.
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Trump then repeated baseless attacks against his Democratic opponent — including calling her a Marxist — even as he acknowledged that he doesn't know her beyond what he can tell by seeing her on TV and reading about her.
Later in the interview, Trump attacked mail-in voting when asked by McGraw if Republicans are going to beat Democrats at the ballot box or simply "complain about it."
"It shouldn't be allowed. It's a whole different mindset," he said, adding that "Republicans like to go in there Tuesday and vote. And that's been for, you know, a long time, many years, decades, decades. It's a custom almost. It's a family custom. It's a beautiful thing."
Trump said, without evidence, that Democrats "play a different game."
"You have ballot harvesting, but you also have people getting ballots. In California, you have people getting seven ballots. Democrats," he said.
Trump said he had a large crowd in California, but that "they mark it down for you in California if you're a Republican as a loss."
"I guarantee if Jesus came down and was the vote counter I would win California, ok?" said Trump. "In other words, if we had an honest vote counter — a really honest vote counter — I'd do great with the Hispanics. Great. At a level that no Republican's ever done. But if we had an honest vote counter I would win California."
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When asked by McGraw, "Oh you think so?" Trump doubled down.
"I do. I see it. I go around California, they have Trump signs all over the place. It's a very dishonest — everything is mail-in. They send out 38 million ballots I think it is. "
California last voted for a Republican president in 1988 and has become a reliably Democratic stronghold. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won with about 64 percent of the vote.
The Harris campaign pounced on Trump's interview.
"If anyone knows how to handle unwell, unstable, rambling guests it’s Dr. Phil," the campaign wrote in a response Tuesday night. "His guest tonight was no exception.
"After exhausting his therapy sessions with Sean Hannity, Trump went on Dr. Phil to do what he does best – complain about his own problems."
The campaign continued, noting that with Trump's mic unmuted by his "handlers, Donald Trump reached a level of delusion difficult for even Dr. Phil to diagnose."
Watch the interview below or at this link.
