"We're seeing a very desperate man," Dr. Trump explained. He's "somebody who knows that his best option is to cling to power no matter who gets hurt in the process. Obviously, there really isn't any way for him to do that legitimately. So, he's going to pursue whatever illegitimate means that he has at his disposal. And, you know, it's really troubling because it's not just that Donald is hurting himself, which he is doing by continuing to play this out to these absurd lengths. he's doing serious damage to our democracy, to people's faith in the American electoral process, and he's also undermining the legitimacy of the incoming administration which is going to make it that much harder for President [Joe] Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris to get us out of these interconnected crises that we're all suffering from right now."
Joy Behar asked for specifics on how Trump is hurting himself, which Dr. Trump explained is destroying any credibility he had left by "behaving like an immature bully.
"The only thing he has left right now is his grievance," Dr. Trump continued. "And I think yes, there are some people for whom that won't change anything, his most ardent supporters aren't going to be bothered by that at all, but I think it does two things: It is going to increase his irrelevance after the inauguration, and I think it increases the urgency for holding him accountable when he no longer has the protection of the Oval Office."
Co-host Sunny Hostin noted that Donald Trump continues to claim he won the election, even going so far as to say that the FBI and his own Justice Department was involved in trying to "rig" things against him. Attorney General Bill Barr even came out, saying that the election was legitimate and there was no massive voter fraud in the election. Hostin wondered if Trump really believes he won the election and is being cheated or if he's just being an opportunist.
"It's a great question, and it's pretty complicated because, on the one hand, it is impossible for Donald to believe that he lost," Dr. Trump explained. "You know, he's lost before in his life, but he's never had to be in a situation in which he can't somehow turn that loss into a win either through cheating or buying his way out of a jam or using somebody else's connections and power. There's literally nothing he can do about this. So, it's sort of unfathomable because in my family, losing was literally the worst thing you could do. So, it's putting enormous amounts of pressure on him. On the one hand, he can't admit it to himself because that would suggest that there's no way for him to get out of this mess. So, he's going to continue to undermine people's faith in our government and our institutions, and again, it's just another 48 days he has to keep, you know, taking a wrecking ball to the United States government."
Republican consultant Ana Navarro noted that Trump has promised 2020 will not be the end of him and floated the idea of a 2024 campaign.
"Do you think this is something he's seriously considering or was he talking about being on 'Dancing with the Stars?'" she asked.
It prompted Dr. Trump to crack up with laughter, noting both aren't something she'd enjoy seeing.
"I think this initially was probably an idea that was floated to him in order to assuage his wounded ego after he so decisively lost to President Biden, and I think it's something he clings to as a way to maintain his relevance, which I suggested earlier is going to wane precipitously after the inauguration," Dr. Trump explained. "And I think it's a way to keep himself at the center of things. My hope is that the media doesn't fall for this nonsense."
She went on to explain that she has several reasons she doesn't think Trump will run again. First, she said that the most important thing in his life is about to be the lawsuits he's facing in New York and elsewhere. The financial exposure is another concern. Trump will eventually have his full tax returns revealed to the public and they will likely show that he doesn't have any money. Already, what the New York Times has revealed shows Trump is in over $500 million in debt and the bills are about to come due. She thinks those things will keep him out of 2024.
Former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci made a similar comment several weeks ago, saying that once Trump disappears and suddenly isn't getting the notoriety and non-stop attention that he'll fade away.
The GOP, however, is forever changed, Hostin noted. But Dr. Trump said that it isn't so much that Trump changed the GOP, but "he's revealed its true nature."
"So, I don't see the party changing any time soon which is a tragedy for all of us," she went on. "So Donald absolutely will try to maintain control because that will continue to give him some measure of power. I think he's much more likely to pursue something in the media though. That way he can have the spotlight trained on him at all times, and he can narrow his focus due to his most fanatical followers."
When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Trump said that the poor response from Trump is really just part of their family tradition of seeing illness as weakness.
"In my family, weakness was considered the worst possible thing," she explained. "So, you know, most people did anything they could in order to pretend that they were strong no matter what was going on, and by weakness, I don't just mean weakness of character. I mean, being sick made you weak. Having something like alcoholism, which was my dad's problem made you weak. So Donald can't bear to be associated with any kind of illness because he thinks that that, in turn, makes him look weak."
She compared it to the way that Trump has politicized mask-wearing and downplayed the pandemic from the start. All of the protections and cautions that people should be taking to protect themselves and others makes them "lightweights" in Trump's mind.
"They're not tough enough to face down this invisible virus which is -- it's not just absurd, it's dangerous beyond comprehension," Dr. Trump explained. "As you guys pointed out earlier, almost 3,000 Americans died yesterday. This is -- this is beyond comprehension, and it's only going to get worse. So, we need to start wrapping our heads around that one. So, again, it's really -- it's not just Donald, although honestly if from the very beginning he had said, 'wear a mask' and had worn himself, hundreds of thousands of people would survive, but it's also GOP leadership who is just following his lead and continuing to do absolutely nothing."
See the interview below:
Part 1:
Part 2:
