Photo: Alamy
A powerful image of President Trump on the cover of Time magazine was revealed on Tuesday when the outlet released its “wide-ranging interview” with the 45th president.
TIME National Politics Reporter Eric Cortellessa conducted the interview, which took place on April 12 at Mar-a-Lago, and then by telephone on April 27 for a few follow-up questions.
While discussing the various legal battles he is currently fighting, President Trump made clear that the reason behind each prosecution was related to the fact that he received 75 million votes in the 2020 presidential election.
Cortellessa asked Trump if he would order his attorney general to “prosecute the state officials” currently prosecuting him, to which he replied, “Well, we’re gonna look at a lot of things like they’re looking. What they’ve done is a terrible thing. No, I don’t want to do that.”
Trump recalled when his administration was tasked with looking into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stating that he was “not happy looking at Clinton. I was not happy. I think it’s a terrible thing.”
Despite those feelings, he told Cortellessa, “But unfortunately, what they’ve done is they’ve lifted up the lid and they’ve—what they’ve done to me is incredible. Over nothing.”
After a back and forth of hypotheticals from Cortellessa, he told President Trump, “I just want to say for the record, there’s no evidence that President Biden directed this prosecution against you.” He continued into another question, but Trump interrupted, stating, “Oh sure there is.”
Cortellessa attempted to continue, but President Trump intercepted again, telling him, “I always hate the way a reporter will make those statements. They know it’s so wrong. It’s just sort of to protect yourself.” Trump listed the various prosecutions and the ways that Biden had interjected himself into each one.
The TIME interviewer remained committed to asking Trump his follow-up question, which was “Even if we stipulate that, do two wrongs make a right?”
Trump told Cortellessa, “I wouldn’t want to hurt Biden. I’m not looking to hurt Biden. I wouldn’t want to hurt him. I have too much respect for the office. But he is willing to hurt a former President who is very popular, who got 75 million votes. I got more votes than any other sitting president in history. And I have probably eight cases right now that are all inspired by them, including my civil case.”
In another portion of the interview, Trump made clear what he believed retribution looked like, stating, “Our retribution is going to be through the success of our country.”
As the interview wound down, Trump asked the reporter, “Do you think you could do this interview with Biden,” to which Cortellessa said, “You know, he didn’t say yes. So I’m grateful that you’re giving me the opportunity.”
