President Donald Trump brightly outshone all other Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday night during his interview with Tucker Carlson on X, drawing tens of millions of views in the first few minutes of its posting.
Trump, who is far and away the dominant frontrunner in the Republican primary ahead of 2024, chose to take a “pass” on the first GOP presidential debate in favor of sitting down with Carlson.
The decision has proven to be an overwhelming success, racking up an incredible 73 million views in the first 40 minutes of its posting. The views continued to mount as the night continued.
Unlike many of the other GOP candidates who have run on a campaign platform of slinging mud at the 45th president, Trump succinctly and directly addressed questions from Carlson regarding policy, election integrity, and even Jeffrey Epstein without missing a beat.
Carlson asked Trump if he believed that Epstein really killed himself. “I think he probably committed suicide,” he said.
The president shared, “I have never seen spirit like there is right now.” He contrasted the enthusiasm of American voters for his presidency against 2016 and 2020, noting that the road to 2024 is more electric than ever before.
He added, “I think they like me, and I know they love my policies…I have never seen spirit like it is right now and the reason is because Crooked Joe Biden is SO BAD. He’s the worst president in the history of our country.”
The president also touched on his relationship with former Vice President Mike Pence, whom he said he hasn’t spoken to “in a long time.”
He told Carlson that he felt that “in his opinion,” Pence could have sent the electoral votes back to the states on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump also shared with Carlson his top priority as president again in 2025: “Number one is a border, and taking hundreds of thousands of criminals that have been allowed in our country” and sending them back to where they came from.
The president carefully answered Carlson’s final question, asking Trump if he believed the country was headed toward a civil war.
Trump said that the people who were involved in the events of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol encompassed a spirit of “love and unity.”
He added, “I have never seen such spirit, such passion, and such love.” He concluded that there was a “bad combination” of passion and hatred in the U.S. today.
