- Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would ‘never drop out’ of the presidential race even if he got convicted of a crime
- ‘No, I’d never drop out. I’d never drop out,’ he told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. ‘It’s not my thing, I wouldn’t do it’
- Trump suggested it was more likely that 80-year-old President Joe Biden would bow out of the 2024 race
Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would ‘never drop out’ of the presidential race even if he got convicted of a crime, telling Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson, ‘It’s not my thing.’
During a Tuesday sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, Carlson had asked if there was anything prosecutors could throw at Trump legally that would convince him to drop out of the 2024 White House race.
The former president said there was not.
‘No, I’d never drop out. I’d never drop out,’ he replied. ‘It’s not my thing, I wouldn’t do it.’
Trump made the comments after suggesting that President Joe Biden would be the one to bow out.
The ex-president claimed ‘there’s something wrong’ with Biden, 80, though added, ‘it’s not an age thing.’
‘Look, I watch him just like you do. And I think it’s almost inapproriate for me to say it – I don’t see how it’s possible – but there’s something wrong,’ Trump told Carlson.
Trump reiterated that Biden was ‘not too old’ and even commended 81-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders, a former Biden rival, saying that he’s ‘100 percent sharp.’
‘I think they do the age thing because I’m four or five years behind,’ the 76-year-old former president said. ‘They say, this is a way of getting Trump, let’s call him old.’
‘But there’s something wrong,’ Trump said of Biden. ‘I just don’t see Biden doing it from a physical or a mental status, I just don’t see it,’ Trump later added.
Trump pointed to an interview Biden gave at Monday’s White House Easter Egg Roll with Today’s Al Roker.
‘I saw his answer today. On television. About whether or not he was going to run. To a very nice guy named Al Roker. You can’t get a softer question than that. That was a long answer, talking about the eggs and the this and that,’ Trump said. ‘Look, I don’t think he can.’
Roker talked to Biden and first lady Jill Biden on the Truman Balcony and asked the president if he planned to take part in Easter Egg Rolls after 2024.
‘I plan on – at least three or four more Easter Egg Rolls,’ Biden replied. ‘Maybe five,’ he continued, his childhood stutter slightly apparent. ‘Maybe six, what the hell?’
Roker asked if that meant Biden would be running for reelection.
‘I’ll either be the guy rolling the egg or the guy pushing them out,’ Biden answered.
He then clarified.
‘I plan on running, Al,’ he said, ‘but we’re not prepared to announce it yet.’
Trump also poked fun at Biden for not hosting a press conference on his trip this week to Ireland – something reporters pushed for in the White House briefing room earlier this week.
‘He’s now in Ireland, he’s not going to have a press conference,’ Trump said. ‘The world is exploding … the world is exploding around us. You can end up in a third world war and this guy’s gonna be in Ireland and not having a news conference.’
‘He hasn’t had a news conference I guess in months, I saw today,’ the former president added.
Carlson then asked what Democrat would take Biden’s place atop the 2024 ballot.
‘Well obviously the one they would talk about would be the vice president, Kamala,’ Trump said. ‘But I don’t think she’s performed well on the big stage.’
‘But there’s a certain group of people who are going to go crazy if it’s not her,’ Trump added, seemingly alluding to black voters.
Trump also noted how there was a ‘very ambitious guy’ in California – Gov. Gavin Newsom. ‘But he’s done a terrible job with the state,’ Trump said.
Carlson seemed surprised when Trump revealed that he and Newsom got along great.
‘I did. I really did. He was always very nice to me. Said the greatest things,’ Trump gushed.
Additionally, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. is now engaged to Newsom’s first wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Trump announced his intentions to retake the White House in mid-November, directly after the midterm elections, elongating the already lengthy presidential campaign timeline.
Biden, however, has yet to officially announce a reelection campaign.
An Axios report last week quoted some Biden sources suggesting it could come as late as this fall, while others thought he’d announce sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, Trump is trying to make quick work of the Republican primary field – which has officially attracted Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy, but with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all flirting with a bid.
At the same time, he’s under increased legal scrutiny, having been arraigned last week in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to a $30,000 payoff to a doorman trying to sell information about a child that Trump allegedly fathered out of wedlock, $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump is also being investigated by federal officials in New York, county officials in Georgia and there are two Trump-related probes being overseen by a special counsel.