US Politics Extra: Fact-Checking Trump's Meet the Press Interview #2
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This summary has been produced automatically by an AI Large Language Model (LLM) without any human intervention. Whilst every effort has been made to prompt the LLM to produce accurate output, there may be inconsistencies, inaccuracies or hallucinations!
Table of Contents 📖
"The way he's talking is like Lviv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk. These are all like rubbleized. There's nothing left of them. Everyone's moved out. The country has been demolished. No, it hasn't. The country has not been demolished. Stop lying."
Hello Team
🎦 00:00-01:50⏩
In this US politics extra video, Jonathan MS Pearce fact-checks a Kristen Welker interview with Donald Trump. Jonathan expresses his frustration with Trump's ability to lie so freely and with interviewers who do not adequately challenge these lies. He mentions a previous instance where Welker challenged Trump on a statistic, but failed to push back when Trump denied the correction. Jonathan explains that he will fact check the second half of the interview.
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Kash Patel as potential FBI Director
🎦 01:51-04:53⏩, 05:00-05:43⏩, 05:50-06:06⏩, 21:46-21:56⏩
- Kristen Welker questions Trump about his naming of Kash Patel as the next FBI director.
- Patel has a list of 60 people he considers members of the "deep state," including Democrats and former members of Trump's cabinet.
- Trump deflects the question of whether Patel will launch investigations into people on the list, stating that Patel will do what he thinks is right.
- Jonathan argues that Trump's answer is disingenuous, as Patel's list and promise of retribution are the reasons for his nomination.
- Trump claims Patel is "very fair" and denies he will pursue investigations against political enemies unless they have broken the law.
- Jonathan interprets this as a veiled confirmation that Patel will go after Trump's enemies, as Trump believes they have all done something wrong.
Pam Bondi as potential Attorney General
🎦 03:24-03:42⏩, 03:54-04:09⏩, 14:22-14:36⏩, 21:56-22:07⏩, 24:17-24:30⏩, 24:43-24:47⏩, 25:19-25:25⏩
- Trump mentions Pam Bondi as his Attorney General nominee, replacing Matt Gaetz.
- He praises Bondi as "very popular, very good, and very fair."
- Jonathan notes that Bondi's appointment is significant as she, along with Kash Patel, will be responsible for deciding whether to pursue investigations into Trump's political enemies.
- Trump claims that he will not go after Joe Biden, but that Bondi and Patel may choose to do so.
- Jonathan points out the "slope your shoulders" approach, where Trump distances himself from potential investigations while leaving the door open for his appointees to pursue them.
- Trump references "weaponization" against him, hinting at retribution but claiming others deserve it.
- Jonathan highlights Trump's thin-skinned nature and the fact that investigations against him are due to his own unlawful actions.
Trump's promise to appoint a special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden
🎦 05:43-06:06⏩, 06:10-07:20⏩, 07:30-08:15⏩, 14:14-14:22⏩, 22:19-22:23⏩
- Kristen Welker brings up Trump's previous statement on Truth Social about appointing a special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden and his family.
- Trump now claims he is focused on making the country successful and that "retribution will be through success."
- Jonathan finds this answer to be a good one, but questions the inconsistency with Trump's earlier statements.
- He suggests that Trump may have been lying before or is lying now, and that the answer he gives now is what he should have said all along.
- Jonathan highlights the irresponsibility of making wild claims to get votes and then backtracking on them.
- He concludes that either Trump is lying about not going after Biden, or his previous statements were irresponsible.
- Trump later clarifies he's "not doing that" (going after Biden) unless he finds something "reasonable," but defers to Pam Bondi and Kash Patel's decisions.
Trump's claims about crime and drug lords
🎦 08:15-09:40⏩, 18:04-18:15⏩
- Trump claims that the country is "overridden with crime" and that millions of people who shouldn't be here are in prisons or mental institutions.
- He also alleges that drug lords are being dropped into the country and told never to go back.
- Jonathan refutes these claims, stating that crime rates have significantly decreased.
- He questions the basis for Trump's statement about drug lords and criticizes the irresponsible rhetoric.
- Jonathan points out the absurdity of the claim and the lack of evidence to support it.
- He emphasizes that such statements should not be accepted as noise and need to be challenged.
- Trump repeats the claim that "crime is at an all-time high," which Jonathan again refutes as a lie.
Trump's confusion of asylum seekers with mental asylum patients
🎦 09:41-11:49⏩, 18:45-19:04⏩, 19:22-20:39⏩, 28:52-29:00⏩, 50:43-50:53⏩, 54:07-54:15⏩
- Jonathan discusses articles and statistics showing that US violent crime is down, despite many voters refusing to believe it.
- He criticizes the selective acceptance of facts based on core beliefs and highlights the "zero-sum game" mentality of Trump's mind.
- Jonathan explains that Trump likely believes crime must be terrible because Biden is in charge, leading him to dismiss evidence to the contrary.
- Jonathan references reports that Trump confuses asylum seekers with mental asylum patients.
- He provides examples of articles discussing this confusion and Trump's demonization of asylum seekers.
- Jonathan condemns Trump's unjustified statements and the need to call them out to prevent their spread.
- Trump repeats the claim about migrants from mental institutions, which Jonathan links to the asylum seeker confusion.
- Trump makes another reference to "people pouring into our border that come from prisons and mental institutions."
Trump on groceries
🎦 11:49-14:17⏩
- Trump discusses immigration and "groceries," using the latter as an example of something simple that people care about.
- He acts as though the word "groceries" is unusual or unfamiliar, listing items like apples, bacon, and eggs as examples.
- Jonathan mocks Trump's tone and presentation, questioning who would vote for someone who explains what groceries are.
- Trump claims that the prices of groceries have doubled and tripled in a short period of time, and that he will bring those prices down.
- Jonathan finds this segment particularly absurd and worthy of a comedy sketch.
- He ridicules Trump's apparent unfamiliarity with the concept of groceries and his claim that they include bacon.
Trump on weaponization and his legal cases
🎦 15:15-15:54⏩, 16:19-16:54⏩, 16:58-17:43⏩, 22:33-22:50⏩, 23:44-23:59⏩, 25:54-26:02⏩, 51:52-52:18⏩, 52:28-52:34⏩
- Trump brings up the "weaponization" against him, claiming it's a disgrace and unlike anything in the country's history.
- Jonathan counters that Trump has serially broken the law and is being prosecuted for his actions, such as having classified documents in his toilet.
- Trump claims he's won all his cases or that they're in the process of being won, which Jonathan refutes.
- Jonathan expresses frustration with Merrick Garland's slowness in handling the cases, stating the cases were not dropped because Trump is innocent.
- Trump calls Jack Smith "very corrupt" and says he won't instruct Pam Bondi to prosecute him, but wants her to do what she wants.
- Jonathan points out the inconsistency between Trump's claims of weaponization and the fact that his own son, Hunter, was prosecuted.
- Trump mentions "Fani Willis" as a "total hoax" and claims everything's being dropped.
- Jonathan clarifies that the cases have been delayed due to Merrick Garland's slowness, not because Trump is innocent.
- Trump accuses the January 6th committee of unfairly targeting him and destroying records, which the committee denies.
- Trump claims that Biden "weaponized the Justice Department" and went after his political opponent (Trump) violently.
- Jonathan points out that most of the cases against Trump weren't initiated by Biden and mentions the case against Hunter Biden.
Trump's desire to jail members of the January 6th Committee
🎦 23:59-24:17⏩, 24:30-24:43⏩, 24:47-24:55⏩, 25:15-25:19⏩
- Jonathan highlights a "dangerous, dangerous thing to say" regarding Liz Cheney and the January 6th committee.
- Trump states that everyone on the committee and anyone who voted in favour should go to jail.
- Jonathan interprets this as Trump wanting to jail those who voted against him, calling it a "full-on admission to lawfare."
- Trump denies he will direct his FBI director and attorney general to send them to jail, saying he will focus on "drill, baby, drill."
- Jonathan emphasizes that Trump's statement is not about law or legality, but about targeting those who opposed him.
Trump's plan to pardon January 6th rioters
🎦 25:29-26:54⏩
- Welker asks if Trump plans to pardon those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, including those who pleaded guilty to crimes.
- Trump says he wants to look at everything and will act "very quickly," possibly on the first day of his presidency.
- He justifies this by saying the rioters have been in prison for years in a "filthy, disgusting place."
- Jonathan compares this to pardoning a murderer because they've been in prison for a long time, arguing that the rioters broke the law and were found guilty in courts.
- He criticizes Trump's complaint about the length of their imprisonment as ridiculous, given the circumstances.
Trump's stance on aid to Ukraine
🎦 27:23-30:08⏩
- Welker asks if Ukraine should prepare for less aid from the US under Trump's administration.
- Trump answers "probably," then "possibly," and later "sure."
- Jonathan explains that "possibly" implies less than 50% chance, while "probably" implies more than 50%.
- He criticizes Trump's progression from "maybe" to "yes" regarding reduced aid.
- Jonathan argues that Trump, as a supposed great negotiator, should not lay his cards on the table before negotiations.
- He states that Trump has effectively told Putin that Ukraine will get less aid, thus removing leverage in negotiations.
- Jonathan posits two possibilities: either Trump is a very bad deal maker, or he wants Russia to succeed.
- He challenges Trump supporters who also support Ukraine to explain this contradiction.
Trump's claim to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours
🎦 30:11-31:55⏩
- Welker reminds Trump that he said he would end the war in 24 hours, even before taking office.
- Trump says he is "actively trying to" end the war.
- Jonathan questions whether Trump was lying about ending the war in 24 hours or before January 20th, calling it "deeply irresponsible" to make such claims.
- He criticizes Trump supporters for accepting his "wildly improbable" statements without question.
- Jonathan contrasts this with the criticism of Joe Biden for allegedly lying about not pardoning Hunter Biden.
- He suggests that Trump supporters are okay with Trump lying because their support for him overrides any issues with his dishonesty.
Trump's statements about the war in Ukraine
🎦 32:04-32:53⏩, 33:15-34:14⏩, 56:30-56:36⏩
- Trump claims that the level of killing in the war is unprecedented since World War II and that "the cities have been emptied out and demolished."
- Jonathan refutes this, stating that most cities in Ukraine are not affected in the way Trump describes and that his statement is an "outright lie."
- He clarifies that only a tiny minority of places on the front line, like Bakhmut and Avdiivka, are severely damaged, not the entire country as Trump suggests.
- Jonathan criticizes Trump for falsely implying that major cities like Kyiv and Odesa are "rubbleized" and that the country has been demolished.
- Trump claims that the four years he wasn't in office, a lot of bad things were done, particularly in terms of the US's reputation overseas.
Trump's minimization of Russian casualties
🎦 34:51-35:05⏩, 35:52-37:10⏩
- Trump claims that if he were president, the war in Ukraine would never have happened.
- Jonathan dismisses this as an unprovable "alternative history" and compares it to claiming that if he had been allowed to shave, the war wouldn't have started.
- Trump states that "hundreds of thousands" of soldiers are being killed and that it's "totally level."
- Jonathan cites a report by Philip O'Brien estimating Russia's losses at 500,000, later revised to 600,000, while Western intelligence suggests 700,000 plus.
- He accuses Trump of minimizing Russian casualties by 200,000-250,000 and trying to portray both sides as equally affected, which benefits Russia.
- Jonathan argues that Trump's statements consistently seem to favour Russia.
Trump's views on NATO and trade
🎦 38:39-41:14⏩, 41:18-43:05⏩, 43:34-44:56⏩, 45:14-47:21⏩
- Trump discusses NATO, saying "it doesn't have bills" in the way it's being expressed, and that the US pays more than anyone else.
- Jonathan clarifies that NATO requires member states to spend 2% of their GDP on their own defence forces, not pay into a collective fund.
- He explains that this spending is for preparedness in case Article 5 is triggered, ensuring a level playing field among members.
- Trump claims European nations take advantage of the US on trade, not taking American cars or food products.
- Jonathan questions why Europe should buy more American cars if they are not as good as European cars, calling it a "free market."
- He criticizes Trump's view that everything should benefit the US and that not doing so means an entity "sucks."
- Jonathan explains that European countries don't take certain American food products due to stricter health and safety standards, such as the ban on chlorinated chicken.
- Trump claims he got "hundreds of billions of dollars" put into NATO by telling countries he wouldn't protect them unless they paid, leading to increased spending.
- Jonathan acknowledges that Trump did push for increased defence spending in 2018, but argues that the real driver of increased spending was Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- He concedes that Trump was right about European nations needing to increase defence spending, but wrong about being solely responsible for the increase.
- Trump says he would stay with NATO if they're paying their "bills" and treating the US fairly, but would consider leaving otherwise.
Trump's stance on social security, Medicare, and Medicaid
🎦 47:56-49:04⏩
- Welker mentions that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped to head up a Department of Government Efficiency, proposing cuts to the federal government.
- She asks if Trump will touch Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid.
- Trump states that he won't touch Social Security, other than making it more efficient, and that people will get what they're getting.
- He also says entitlements are off the table and he won't raise ages for eligibility.
- Jonathan expresses wariness, noting that Trump's proxies have been saying otherwise in press conferences.
- He suggests that this could be a lie, but hopes that Trump recognizes the popularity of these programs.
Trump on the division in the country
🎦 49:10-49:23⏩, 49:50-50:15⏩, 50:30-51:07⏩, 51:37-51:47⏩
- Welker notes that Trump is taking office against the backdrop of a deeply divided country and that he has yet to concede the 2020 election.
- Trump deflects blame for the division to Biden, saying "I'm not the president."
- Jonathan criticizes Trump's double standard, pointing out that he blames Biden for the division but won't take credit for the good economy.
- Trump claims that Biden has divided the country more than anything else, particularly through the campaign against him.
- Jonathan refutes this, stating that Biden's campaign brought together a broad coalition of people, including those with opposing views, to unify the country.
- He argues that Trump's claim that Biden is the divisive one is "demonstrably not true" and a lie.
- Trump again blames Biden for the division, citing the "weaponization" of the Justice Department against him.
Trump's claim that the 2024 election was "too big to rig"
🎦 52:38-53:33⏩
- Welker asks why Democrats didn't steal the 2024 election if they control the White House.
- Trump claims it was "too big to rig."
- Jonathan calls for pushback, stating that Trump's win was one of the smallest in over 100 years, with a margin of around 1.6%.
- He notes that Trump won less than 50% of the vote and that it was a "very wide but shallow win."
- Jonathan refutes Trump's claim that the election was too big to rig, emphasizing that it wasn't a large victory.
Trump's denial of investigating the 2020 election
🎦 53:40-54:15⏩
- Welker asks if Trump will direct his Justice Department to investigate the 2020 election.
- Trump says he has the right to do so as "the chief law enforcement officer," but is not interested.
- He states his focus is on drilling, lowering prices, and stopping people from "pouring into our border that come from prisons and mental institutions."
- Jonathan questions Trump's denial, given his previous statements and actions.
Trump's comments on assassination attempts and secret service protection
🎦 54:15-54:57⏩, 55:22-55:36⏩, 57:05-57:29⏩
- Welker mentions the "horrific attempts" against Trump's life and asks if he feels safe.
- Trump says he has confidence in the Secret Service and that they've "really stepped it up."
- He claims he had 50,000 people at his rallies while Biden had 30, and that he asked for more Secret Service protection but couldn't get it.
- Jonathan refutes this, stating that Trump lied about his rally numbers and those of Kamala Harris.
- He notes that Trump had more Secret Service provision than anyone else in a similar situation in history.
- Jonathan highlights the inconsistency between Trump's claims and the actual provision of Secret Service protection.
- The House Oversight Committee called Trump's term the "world's greatest get-rich-quick scheme" and found that he overcharged the Secret Service by 300% for accommodation at his hotels.
Trump's promise to treat everyone the same
🎦 55:37-56:04⏩, 56:16-56:29⏩, 57:47-58:04⏩, 58:16-59:18⏩
- Welker asks what Trump wants to say to Americans who didn't support him.
- Trump says he will treat them "every bit as well" as he treats MAGA supporters and that "we're going to treat everybody good."
- He emphasizes the need for safety and mentions the "tremendous threat" militarily due to the power of weapons.
- Trump states he wants to "bring back civilization" to the country and "get rid of crime."
- He criticizes the four years he wasn't in office, saying "a lot of bad things were done" and that the US's reputation overseas was "so shot."
- Trump claims that people can't walk across the street to buy bread without being shot, which Jonathan calls out as hyperbole.
- Jonathan suggests that gun control might help with that issue, questioning Trump's position on it.
- Trump says he loves everyone and that success will bring the country together.
- He claims he was getting along with people on the left at levels he never thought possible before COVID, and that success was bringing the country together.
- Jonathan refutes this, citing Trump's record low job approval rating and unpopularity.
Trump's lies about releasing medical records and winning the youth vote
- Jonathan mentions two additional points from the extended interview that were cut from the main program.
- Trump claims he released his medical records four times while in office, which Jonathan states is a lie.
- Welker challenges Trump, asking for his full medical report, not just letters.
- Trump deflects, saying he's done it four times and then changes the subject.
- Jonathan clarifies that Trump has released three letters from doctors, but no actual medical records.
- Mehdi Hassan picks up another claim from the extended interview where Trump says he won the youth vote by 30%, then changes it to 35%.
- Jonathan notes the inconsistency and the large swing Trump is claiming, from negative 30% to positive 35%.
- He states that Trump lost young voters by double digits and questions whether Trump is ignorant of the stats or outright lying.
Wrap up
🎦 59:18-59:54⏩, 01:02:36-01:02:45⏩
Jonathan concludes by expressing his lack of time for Trump, stating he now has "negative time" for him. He thanks the viewers for listening to Trump "bang on with scant regard for facticity and truth." He encourages viewers to like, subscribe, and share the video, and to subscribe to the channel if they haven't already. He ends by saying "take care and speak to you soon."
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🤖❓ AI Debrief (post task) - anything the AI didn't understand
I was able to understand everything in the transcript and tasks. The instructions were clear and comprehensive.
🤖💭 AI Plan (pre task) - the AI's step by step thought process
Let's break this down step by step.
TASK 1: TITLE, DATE and PART
The title is extracted from the YouTube video title, excluding the date and part.
The date needs to be reformatted to DD/MM/YYYY.
The part, if present, is the letter after the date in the YouTube title.
TASK 2: TOPIC TITLES
I need to identify distinct topics within the transcript.
Each topic title should be a concise, quantified, and specific summary of the topic.
The first topic will always be "Hello Team" and the last "Wrap up".
I should ensure to use Ukrainian spellings for place names.
TASK 3: TOPIC TIMESTAMPS
I need to find the start and end timestamps for each topic from the transcript.
Timestamps should be in MM:SS or HH:MM:SS format.
Multiple timeframes for a single topic should be separated by commas.
TASK 4: TOPIC SUMMARIES
I need to write a summary for each topic, including context, credits, and opinions.
I need to capture Jonathan's insights, analysis, and humour.
I need to correct any spelling/grammatical errors in the transcript.
Ensure Ukrainian spellings are used.
Write in British English.
TASK 5: QUOTE
I need to select a significant, meaningful, or humorous quote from the transcript.
The quote should be concise and make sense out of context.
Ensure correct spellings, punctuation and remove any hesitations.
TASK 6: QUERIES
I need to record anything I didn't understand or found unclear in the transcript or tasks.
PLAN OF ACTION
Title, Date, and Part: Extract the title, reformat the date, and identify the part from the YouTube title.
Topic Titles: Skim the transcript to identify distinct topics. Create specific and quantified titles for each.
Topic Timestamps: Go through the transcript, noting the start and end timestamps for each topic identified.
Topic Summaries: Write a detailed summary for each topic, including all relevant information and capturing Jonathan's style.
Quote: Scan the transcript for a suitable quote that meets the criteria.
Queries: Note down any uncertainties or issues encountered during the process.
XML Output: Format the information into the specified XML structure.
