Trump declines to answer question about strikes against Venezuela

If you were watching CBS at all this weekend, you likely saw the promos for the big Trump interview with Norah O’Donnell on “60 Minutes.” I watched the full interview, and I watched what aired on TV Sunday night.

I really don’t think Trump got a fair shake in the aired version, which is a shame, because the full interview was both entertaining and what I would expect from a real journalist.

The Democrat strategy

Before I get into the interview, I wanted to discuss a little something about the shutdown since O’Donnell covered this in her interview with Trump.

Saturday, the Marketplace opened up for those of us who have to get health insurance, and the news was not good.

For example, I had already seen a preview of what my costs were expected to be, and it was even worse when I went into the portal, with my out-of-pocket expenses going up by 20%, while my premium went up by 44.5%. So, if I had to have surgery, my out-of-pocket, including premium payments, would be about $25,000, which is insane.

This is exactly what I think Democrats wanted to have happen, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) all but admitted that, having stated, "People are going to see drastic, drastic increases in their healthcare costs. People are going to sit at the dinner table Friday night with a pit, with a hole in the pit of their stomach, and say, ‘How are we going to do this?’"

Not happening

When Trump was asked about the shutdown and what he was going to do about it since he had helped in previous shutdowns, he shot back, “I’m not gonna do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way. There’s something wrong with these people.”

Then he put the focus right back on Schumer, stating, “He’s gonna be defeated in the next election by a vast number of people. And he has nothing to lose. He’s become a kamikaze pilot.”

I wouldn’t say that she tried to put this all on Trump, but she was not hitting the narrative that Jake Tapper was on CNN.

Tapper has been hammering Democrats who have been blaming this on the GOP. He has stood tall, telling them all that, historically, the media blames the party that does not vote in favor of the continuing resolution (CR) as the party to blame, and right now, that is the Democrat Party.

Why ask that?

O’Donnell tried to get Trump to give up the tapes on any plans he may have to attack cartels on Venezuelan soil or perhaps to make a regime change. After all, Trump had already admitted that the green-lit a CIA operation on their soil.

She took a shot, but Trump shut her right down, stating, “How can I answer a question like that? ‘Are there plans for a strike on Venezuela?’ Who would say that? Supposing there were -- would I say that to you, honestly? ‘Yes, we have plans! We have very secret plans!’ Who would say that? What kind of a question is it?”

In terms of the edited piece that was on TV, it really came off as an interview where they took Trump’s worst moments, but you would not know that unless you watched both interviews. So, when you have time, I would recommend watching them both, the full interview (click here) and the aired interview (click here).

Trump gave them 73 minutes of footage, most of it very pleasant and informative. Trump’s worst moments were ranting about the election, the pardon he recently offered, and some of the stuff on nuclear weapons. Oddly enough, they were all included while his best moments, especially the moments when he and O’Donnell were joking around, were all on the cutting floor. When you add in the video support she used for her piece, maybe 25% of what Trump actually said was used. To me, this just proves that when they want to make you look good, like they did for Harris, they can, and when they want to make you look bad, they will.