Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table in a Manhattan court, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York.
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
Donald Trump appeared on Fox News with anchor Bret Baier on Monday.
Baier reminded Trump he said he was going to hire the “best” people to his administration in 2016.
He then pointed out much of Trump’s former administration doesn’t support his 2024 White House bid.
On Monday, Donald Trump appeared on Fox News anchor Bret Baier’s Special Report to discuss the classified documents he took from the White House and the case against him.
They also discussed Trump’s time as president, with Baier reminding the former president that when he ran for office in 2016, he said he was “going to surround myself with only the best and most serious people.”
“Well, I did do that,” Trump responded. “That’s tremendous. Look, we had the best economy we’ve ever had, the world has ever seen.”
But Baier then pointed out to the former president that many of those “best and most serious people” no longer support him:
This time, your Vice President Mike Pence is running against you. Your ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, she’s running against you. Your former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said he’s not supporting you.
You mentioned National Security Adviser John Bolton. He’s not supporting you either. You mentioned Attorney General Bill Barr. Says you shouldn’t be president again. Calls you ‘the consummate narcissist’ and ‘troubled man.’ You recently called Barr a ‘gutless pig.'”
Your second defense secretary is not supporting you. Called you irresponsible. This week, you called your White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ‘weak and ineffective’ and ‘born with a very small brain.’ You called your acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney a ‘born loser.’ You called your first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, ‘dumb as a rock,’ and your first Defense Secretary, James Mattis, ‘the world’s most overrated general.’ You called your White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany ‘milquetoast.’
And multiple times, you’ve referred to your Transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, as ‘Mitch McConnell’s China-loving wife.’
“So, why did you hire all of them in the first place?” Baier asked.
Mike Pence and Donald Trump in 2017.
Getty Images/Pool
Trump responded by pointing to unnamed people who were “phenomenal” for the economy in his administration.
“Because I hired ten to one that were fantastic,” Trump said. “We had a great economy. We had phenomenal people in charge of the economy. We had phenomenal people in the military. I’m not a fan of Milley and I’m not a fan of certain of the television people. But I knocked out ISIS, I defeated ISIS. They said, Mattis, it will take three years and I don’t think we can do it. I did it in a period of like four weeks.”
“There’s a lot of people who praise you for your policies,” Baier replied. “I just said that.”
“That’s true. Well, I mean, you just went through a list. But don’t forget, for every one you say, I had 10 that love us,” Trump said.