“Turn the cameras off!”: Trump storms out on Piers Morgan
Former US President Donald Trump has erupted at Piers Morgan before storming off the set of an interview that touched on the “stolen” US presidential election.
After Morgan lay the blame for last year’s deadly riots at the Capitol squarely at Trump’s feet – largely for his refusal to concede that he had lost the 2020 presidential election – Trump had had enough, and began screaming that Morgan was “dishonest” and “a fool”, before demanding that the shocked TV crew “turn the cameras off!”
Trump appears to have been deeply angered by a slew of barbs that Morgan has directed towards him during his time at the White House, despite being friends for at least 15 years. But in this instance, the pair appeared to clash heavily even before the interview had gotten underway – but while the cameras were rolling.
Morgan detailed the behind-the-scenes incident to news.com.au, saying that Trump stared at him with “undisguised fury” and was “almost foaming at the mouth”.
At one point, the Trump hissed at Morgan: “What the f**k is this?”
You’re not real. You’re a fake.” To which Piers replied: “No, I’m just brutally honest.”
Morgan revealed further details from the encounter:
“Normally, he’d greet me with a cheery smile and the words ‘How’s my champ?’ because I was his first Celebrity Apprentice on the series that made him a TV superstar. But this time, there were no such welcoming niceties.
“He was staring at me across his desk with undisguised fury, clutching the document entitled ‘Piers Morgan Comments About President Trump’. “What the f**k IS this?” he snarled. Then he began slowly reading out some of the quotes. “Trump’s a supreme narcissist….” Pause. “His pathetic antics in the past few weeks since losing the election in November have been utterly contemptible.” Pause. “Trump’s now too dangerous, he’s morphed into a monster that I no longer recognise as someone I considered to be a friend and thought I knew.”
“Each time he paused, he peered over the document at me, with mounting rage in his eyes.
“I’d never seen him so livid or felt so uncomfortable in his presence as I did right now in his office.
“He was almost foaming at the mouth and kept shaking his head slowly and menacingly at me, like Don Corleone when he felt he’d been disrespected.”
Morgan then went on to detail the moment Trump truly took issue with his questions:
“Things took a dramatic downward turn when I finally brought up his refusal to accept defeat in 2020 and the appalling scenes on January 6.
“I told him I believe he lost the supposedly “rigged, stolen” election, I repeatedly pointed out his failure to produce any evidence of the widespread voter fraud he insists occurred to rob him of his presidency, and I blamed his refusal to admit defeat for the deadly riots at the Capitol.
“Then you’re a fool!” he sneered. “And you haven’t studied!...”
“Now abandoning any pretence at cordiality, Trump ranted that he was far more honest than me, and again sneered that I wasn’t ‘real’ before haranguing me for exceeding our 20 minutes which was particularly disingenuous given that during all our previous interviews, he’d invariably decided exactly how long he wanted to keep talking.
“Incensed Trump tried to end things by declaring “That’s it!” before I reminded him that we hadn’t discussed his hole-in-one, which he then sat down again and did – briefly – before abruptly jumping to his feet, looking hateful, and barking at the shocked crew: “Turn the cameras off!”
“Then he turned on his heels, and sloped angrily off through a side door, loudly muttering “So dishonest…”
The world exclusive interview is due to air as the launch piece for Morgan’s new show Piers Uncensored on Sky News on Tuesday night at 9pm AEST.
Image: Piers Uncensored