The one and only Donald Trump stopped by CNN for an interview with the one and only Don Lemon, and the two got on extraordinarily well. Lemon’s journalistic tactics are often designed to illicit a reaction, and Trump does the same thing every day, so there’s much in common here. Likewise, they also share the honor of being in the same room when the seminal “somebody’s doing the raping” quote dropped from Trump’s mouth.
So, while Trump’s fellow presidential candidates and the GOP members of Congress have largely moved to distance themselves from his anti-Muslim rhetoric, Trump still has an ally in Lemon. Sort of. Their union is based on symbiotic needs (approval ratings and television ratings, respectively), so they acted as a team during Wednesday night’s interview. The candidate who called for a U.S. ban on Muslim entry and doesn’t mind being compared to Hitler says he’s not racist at all:
“I am the least racist person you’ve ever met. I am the least racist person. I am a person who happens to be very smart, and I happen to have a certain street sense, and I know where things are going. I said, ‘Take out Osama Bin Laden’ in a book written in the year 2000. I said, ‘You’d better be careful,’ because I saw this guy, Osama Bin Laden, probably on television. I said, ‘Take him out.’ He knocked down the World Trade Center.”
Trump moved on to call President Obama “a stupid person” for his plan to fight ISIS. Trump also insisted he has nothing but love for Muslims:
“I’m doing good for the Muslims. Many Muslim friends of mine are in agreement with me. They say, ‘Donald, you brought something up to the fore that is so brilliant and so fantastic.’ I love the Middle East. I love the people of the Middle East.”
Trump also spoke about those rumors he’d turn to third-party candidacy (despite his promise not to do so). Trump said he would only do so if the Republicans are not “honorable,” but he does come out and say the party “is not exactly being very good to me.” That sounds like a strong hint to the GOP, but who knows what will happen in a week’s time. The Trump news cycle moves so fast.
Trump enjoyed the CNN interview and later praised Lemon on Twitter.
Great interview tonight @donlemon – very professionally done. @CNN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2015
Twitter enjoyed Trump’s assertion that he is not racist or Islamophobic.
"I am the least racist person you will ever meet" – Donald Trump
"Nice to meet you Donald, I am one of sweetest guys ever!"
– Adolf Hitler— RyansAverageLife (@RyanAbe) December 10, 2015
If Trump is the least racist person you ever met, you need to get out more
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 10, 2015
Ofc Trump isn't gonna say he's racist, that's not surprising at all, but just hearing him say he's not is hilarious
— itโs kiko! (@royalpizzaboy) December 9, 2015
Donald Trump : "I am the least racist person you will ever meet".
Scream ๐— Jay007 (@JulesBarnell) December 10, 2015
https://twitter.com/JenWof/status/674836193964609536
If flirting isn't cheating then Trump isn't racist
— Miguel Anselmo, MS (@miguelfanselmo) December 10, 2015
Elsewhere, Trump is still obsessed with Megyn Kelly and wonders why she’s covering him as news, which is “weird” to him. Well, she’s only doing her job.
.@Megynkelly spent a big part of her show talking about other shows spending so much time on me. Really weird, she's being driven crazy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2015
(Via CNN)