Transcript - Interview: Scott Thuman of Sinclair Broadcast Group Interviews Donald Trump - June 17, 2020 | Factba.se

Scott Thuman

00:00:00 - 00:00:18 (18 sec)

I want to begin by talking about race relations. And I'm curious, in the wake of the death of George Floyd, and then, of course, Raychard Brooks. Some people worry that the tensions and situation are actually getting worse than better, and in a time of crisis, people traditionally look to a President to set the tone.

Scott Thuman

00:00:18 - 00:00:25 (8 sec)

Do you think that you should be even more empathetic? And if you combine that with your executive order, that would help more to unify the country?

Donald Trump

00:00:25 - 00:00:47 (21 sec)

Well, I think what happened and you see it better than maybe anybody, frankly, is that we were doing phenomenally well, the economy was great, jobs were great, best unemployment rates we've ever had for African American, for Hispanic, for Asian, for women, for everybody, and it was great. And then, we got hit with the Chinese virus and it was a whole different thing.

Donald Trump

00:00:47 - 00:01:02 (15 sec)

We had to close down and we had to say, now we're starting all over again. We're doing very well with COVID or whatever you want to call it. It's got many different names but the disease that came over from China, and now, we have to start again, and we are starting again. We had tremendous numbers yesterday.

Donald Trump

00:01:02 - 00:01:27 (25 sec)

We had tremendous job numbers two weeks ago. And I think really if you go back three months to where, you know, just before we closed it, African-American job numbers were the best that we've had ever in the history of our country. I passed criminal justice reform, which nobody could get, President Obama couldn't get it. I don't know if he tried to get it, but he certainly didn't get it or it didn't come close.

Donald Trump

00:01:27 - 00:01:33 (6 sec)

Opportunities Zones, historically black colleges and universities. I got them funded for a long term --

Scott Thuman

00:01:33 - 00:01:36 (3 sec)

Do you think you need to sound more empathetic?

Donald Trump

00:01:36 - 00:01:58 (22 sec)

Well, I think what I have to do is get jobs back. I mean, if you want to know the truth, I do. I am empathetic. I met with some of the greatest people yesterday. Parents of -- of young men and women who were, in some cases, accidentally and other cases, who knows about accidents, right? But, children that were killed and it was a very sad thing.

Donald Trump

00:01:58 - 00:02:13 (15 sec)

No, I -- I feel tremendous sorrow and loss. At the same time, I have to get the economy going again and I'll do that. It's already happening because when I get people's jobs back and I believe next year will be actually better than ever before.

Scott Thuman

00:02:13 - 00:02:22 (9 sec)

Yeah. Because the -- is there one thing -- tell me one thing that you would do differently, personally on handling the race relations issues right now that everyone's so worried about.

Donald Trump

00:02:22 - 00:02:44 (22 sec)

So, I think that tone is a very important thing and I try and have a very good tone, a very moderate tone, a very, sympathetic in some cases tone, but it's very important tone. I'm -- at the same time, fighting as hard as anybody can fight against China, against the European Union who are ripping us left and right.

Donald Trump

00:02:44 - 00:02:44 (0 sec)

Scott Thuman

00:02:44 - 00:02:46 (2 sec)

But tone is one thing you would change?

Donald Trump

00:02:46 - 00:03:03 (17 sec)

I would say that if I could, I would do tone. But you have to understand, I need a different tone. I'm going from different tone to different tone. I'm fighting China and I'm fighting -- because China has been ripping off our country for 25 years, and we're doing great on that.

Scott Thuman

00:03:03 - 00:03:04 (1 sec)

What do you think --

Donald Trump

00:03:04 - 00:03:16 (12 sec)

But I have to say that, probably, if I could do anything, if I could have the time, if I had an extra 10 hours or 20 hours in a day, I would love to say tone. Yes.

Scott Thuman

00:03:16 - 00:03:21 (5 sec)

What do you think when you see these statues around the country being taken down? In some cases, torn down.

Donald Trump

00:03:21 - 00:03:42 (21 sec)

I don't like it. I'm not one that likes it. I think we have a history. We have a -- we have a very -- in fact, I was just going to make a statement on that today, unrelated to yours. We have a very, very important heritage and history, and whether things are good or bad, you learn from it. And you know, the expression is you'll make the same mistake again, if you forget your history.

Donald Trump

00:03:42 - 00:04:00 (18 sec)

And I think, it's a very important thing. It's a -- it's a very important part of our history. Seeing that, seeing what's on -- you know, in some cases, I agree there were Confederate soldiers, Generals, but they were done after the war in order to heal. This was a gesture of healing.

Scott Thuman

00:04:00 - 00:04:08 (8 sec)

So, why not support changing the names of these bases? If for so many people, it does still cause angst. If they think it symbolizes discrimination, why not support that?

Donald Trump

00:04:08 - 00:04:27 (19 sec)

Well, we're talking about two things. We're talking about bases. We're talking about monuments. The bases are a different thing like Fort Bragg. For many, many years, just many, many decades, century, we had a name of Bragg. Nobody even knows the General, doesn't know much about him, but we won World War One.

Donald Trump

00:04:27 - 00:04:47 (21 sec)

We won World War Two. We've done a lot of winning from these bases, Robert E. Lee. You look at, I guess, there are about 11 of them that they're talking about changing the names, and I like, I like winning. I like continuing to win and Fort Bragg is a very powerful name. I believe it's a largest military base anywhere in the world.

Donald Trump

00:04:47 - 00:04:56 (8 sec)

And by the way, I'm not the only one, a lot of people don't want -- and the military would like to see it not change. So, we'll see what happens but I would be against it.

Scott Thuman

00:04:56 - 00:05:12 (17 sec)

When it comes to sports and kneeling, you've indicated just last week on Twitter that perhaps you're done with this debate, you're done watching the NFL, maybe even -- are you done with this? And secondarily, do you think Colin Kaepernick should get another shot in the NFL?

Donald Trump

00:05:12 - 00:05:29 (17 sec)

If he deserves it, he should. If he has the playing ability, he was -- he started off great. And then, he didn't end up very great in terms of -- as a player. He -- he was terrific in his rookie year. I think he was very good in his second year, and then, something happened. So, his playing wasn't up to snuff.

Donald Trump

00:05:29 - 00:05:47 (18 sec)

The answer is absolutely, I would. As far as kneeling, I would love to see him get another shot, but obviously, he has to be able to play well. If he can't play well, I think it would be very unfair. Now, kneeling. I don't want to kneel. I don't want to see people kneel for the national anthem, for the American flag.

Donald Trump

00:05:47 - 00:06:08 (22 sec)

You stand, be proud. Put your hand on your heart. Salute, if you'd like to do that, but you have to show respect. There are plenty of places and plenty of things you can protest. I was very disappointed in the NFL when they came out with a statement. I was very disappointed in U.S. Soccer. We support U.S. Soccer and now they go out and they say that you can do whatever you want.

Donald Trump

00:06:08 - 00:06:12 (4 sec)

No, we have to show respect for our flag and for our national anthem.