July 13, 2017

Trump’s First Non-Fox News TV Interview in 2 Months Could Not Have Been Softer

“I want you to know there are thousands of thousands of people praying for you all the time.”

Steve Helber/AP

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In his first televised interview since May not on Fox News, President Trump sat down with the controversial televangelist Pat Robertson. For a little context, in the past Robertson has said same-sex marriage “doesn’t bring forth anything except disease, apparently, and suffering,” and he has described the “feminist agenda” as something that “encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” 

So as soon as the interview with the host of The 700 Club begins, it’s clear that Robertson is going to give the commander in chief one of his toughest grillings. “I’m so proud of everything you’re doing,” Robertson gushes at the start of the segment, which aired Thursday. 

The 25-minute-long interview with Robertson is one of less than a handful that Trump has given since news broke that his son, Donald Trump Jr., knowingly met with a Russian lawyer who was offering to share incriminating information on his father’s opponent Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. was told the lawyer was acting on behalf of the Russian government, which was offering the information as part of its support for his father’s campaign. Robertson, though, doesn’t even mention the bombshell news.

Here’s a quick look at some of the lowlights that came out of the televangelist’s mouth:

  1. “It looks like to me lowering the corporate tax to get us in line with the rest of the world is, again, a no brainer. Can you get that one through?”
  2. “I’d like to make a prediction. If you get healthcare and tax reform, you’re guaranteed another 4 years in office if you want it.”
  3. “I appreciate so much what you’re doing. By the way, the evangelicals of America voted 83 percent in the last election for you. I want you to know there are thousands of thousands of people praying for you all the time and holding you up.”
  4. “You met for the first time face to face with Vladimir Putin. George Bush had once said he stared into his soul and came away satisfied. What do you think, can we trust him?”
  5. “There seems to be a visceral hatred of you in the part on the left, and they won’t quit. Does it bother you?”

You can watch the hard-hitting interview below.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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