Who will Trump grant his first post-election interview to? Here are some possibilities
A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
Election Day was November 3rd. Major news orgs called it November 7th. And yet, more than a week later, we haven’t seen much of Trump. Yes, he has been active — to say the least — on Twitter. And yes, he did speak about Operation Warp Speed from the Rose Garden recently. But that’s it.
Trump hasn’t taken any questions about the results of the 2020 election. He hasn’t called into “Fox & Friends” or dialed into Rush Limbaugh’s show. And his schedule has been largely void of public events since Americans rejected him at the ballot box.
So when might that end? When will Trump give his first post-election interview? And on what medium?
Typically, one might imagine that Trump would appear on Fox News. Perhaps he’d call into the “Friends” or record a sit-down chat with Sean Hannity. But if one thing has been made clear lately, it is that Trump is livid at Fox. He’s repeatedly raged against the network and promoted its rivals, such as Newsmax and OAN. Talk, however, is cheap. Which is to say, if Trump wants to preach what he teaches, he won’t do Fox.
So what are Trump’s other options? He could always surprise everyone and sit down with a major news network. Or he could call into Limbaugh’s show, which seems like an obvious choice. Or he could drive a dagger into Fox…
“We would be open to an interview”
If Trump really wants to hit Fox, he’d appear on Newsmax, maybe sitting down for an interview with Greg Kelly who has seen a ratings surge over the past week. I texted Newsmax boss Chris Ruddy to see if there have been any conversations behind-the scenes. Ruddy told me that he last spoke to Trump last Thursday when he called to congratulate him on Newsmax’s recent ratings success. “I mentioned to him that we would be open to an interview,” Ruddy said. “He said that everybody’s asking him for one but that he’s really focused right now on dealing with the election challenges.”
>> Trump last appeared on Newsmax when he spoke with Kelly just before the election…
Speaking of which…
When will we see President-elect Joe Biden sit down for a post-election interview? Yes, Biden has been more accessible than Trump, giving speeches and taking questions from reporters. But that’s not quite the same as sitting down for a lengthy interview. I checked in with Biden’s camp, hoping to get some info to share in this newsletter, but came up empty…
