Anchor George Stephanopoulos and President Trump went at each other hard in an interview on ABC News.
The Hill reported that President Donald Trump pushed back at ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos during a interview, calling him “a little wise guy.”
Stephanopoulos was pressing President Trump on not answering questions in person from special counsel Mueller’s team.
“Wait a minute. I did answer questions. I answered them in writing,” the President said.
“Not on obstruction,” George Stephanopoulos replied.
“George, you’re being a little wise guy, OK, which is, you know, typical for you,” President Trump hit back.
“Just so you understand. Very simple. It’s very simple. There was no crime. There was no collusion. The big thing’s collusion. Now, there’s no collusion. That means … it was a setup, in my opinion, and I think it’s going to come out,” he continued.
In ABC News‘ exclusive interview President Trump says McGahn “may have been confused” when he told Robert Mueller that President Trump instructed him multiple times to have the acting attorney general remove the special counsel because of perceived conflicts of interest.
“The story on that very simply, No. 1, I was never going to fire Mueller. I never suggested firing Mueller,” President Trump told George Stephanopoulos.
But when Host Stephanopoulos pushed back and referenced McGahn’s testimony, President Trump was defiant.
“I don’t care what [McGahn] says, it doesn’t matter,” President Trump said.
“Why would [McGahn] lie under oath?” George Stephanopoulos later asked.
“Because he wanted to make himself look like a good lawyer,” the President said. “Or he believed it because I would constantly tell anybody that would listen — including you, including the media — that Robert Mueller was conflicted. Robert Mueller had a total conflict of interest.”
“And has to go?” Host Stephanopoulos followed up.
“I didn’t say that,” the President insisted.
President Trump also defended his decision not to sit for an in-person interview with Robert Mueller’s investigators – something he had repeatedly said he would do – by expressing concern investigators were looking to catch him in lies or misstatements. He ultimately submitted written responses to questions from the investigators.
And while the President refused to speak to Robert Mueller’s investigators directly about McGahn and other topics, he wasn’t shy about sharing his views with ABC News.
“If you answer these questions to me now,” Stephanopoulos asked, “why not answer them to Robert Mueller under oath?”
“Because they were looking to get us for lies or slight misstatements,” President Trump said. “I looked at what happened to people, and it was very unfair. Very, very unfair. Very unfair.”