Former President Donald Trump appeared with new “Meet the Press” host, Kristen Welker, for a wide-ranging interview in which Trump was patently himself. During the hour-plus interview Trump was defiant and evasive – and still harping about the 2020 election.
But Trump also refused to commit to policy positions on contentious issues, giving himself “wiggle room” on issues like abortion, Ukraine, interest rates, and the ongoing GOP effort to impeach President Joe Biden.
“In totality, Trump’s interview with NBC News highlighted the duality of the candidate who is the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination and challenge the Democrats next fall,” NBC reported. “On one hand, he is carving out a policy-messaging lane fit for the general election, while on the other, he is as combative as ever about the charges he faces and his role in lessening the trust Americans have not only in their bedrock institutions but in democracy itself.”
Here are a few key takeaways from the interview.
Trump advised his GOP counterparts to stop promoting total abortion bans. Smart move, because total abortion bans are unpopular, even in deep red states as Kansas demonstrated last year.
“I watch some of [my GOP colleagues] without the [abortion] exceptions, et cetera, et cetera,” Trump said. “I said, ‘Other than certain parts of the country, you can’t – you’re not going to win on this issue. But you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks.’”
Trump would not clarify exactly how many weeks he felt was an appropriate cut-off. Trump also avoided clarifying whether he believed abortion should be decided at the state or federal level.
“I don’t even think about it,” Trump said. “I’m built a little differently I guess, because I have had people come up to me and say, ‘How do you do it, sir? How do you do it?’ I don’t even think about it.”
Trump is facing 91 criminal indictments in four separate trials. Prison is technically a possible outcome. But it seems like a long shot that the former president is going to end up behind bars.
“When you say, do I lose sleep? I sleep,” Trump said. I Sleep. Because I truly feel that, in the end, we’re going to win.”
