In a way, Donald Trump followed the special investigator’s request. Jack Smith, who is investigating election conspiracy allegations against the ex-president, wants to enforce a ban on Trump speaking. Reason: His “inflammatory rhetoric” would jeopardize the trial planned for March. The relevant application has not yet been approved by the court, but when Trump gave an interview to NBC, he remained silent.
For example, when asked whether he followed the Capitol riot on television on January 6, 2021, and what exactly he did on that fateful day. According to the former head of state, he will tell people that “later in due course.” Trump must stand trial for his role that day. Thousands of his supporters came to Washington on the occasion of the election confirmation and invaded the headquarters of Parliament. Numerous people were injured and five people died as a result.
In the conversation with journalist Kristen Welker, Trump also left it open whether he would pardon himself if he were convicted and would return to the White House. “Oh, I think that’s very unlikely. What, what did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong,” was his response. The likely Republican front-runner also pointed out that he did not preemptively pardon himself shortly before leaving the White House in January 2021 to protect himself from prosecution. Trump told his advisers at the time: “The last thing I would ever do is pardon myself.”
A total of four criminal proceedings are ongoing against the 77-year-old. According to experts, if he wins the election after being convicted at the federal level, he could probably pardon himself. But that is likely to trigger major political upheavals. If convicted at the state level – such as the Trump case trials in New York and Georgia – he would not be able to pardon himself.
When NBC journalist Welker asked if there was a scenario in which Trump would seek a third term, Trump said “no.” In the United States, a person can serve as president for two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not.
Trump repeatedly repeated the lie in the more than hour-long interview that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that he was the actual winner – not Democrat Joe Biden.
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The Republican Trump usually gives interviews to more conservative media outlets such as Fox News. The most recent exception was a so-called town hall with CNN, for which the station, which was considered liberal, was criticized. NBC is also considered to be rather liberal.
Sources: NBC News, DPA, AP
