Christine Blasey Ford said at a public hearing during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation process that what she remembered most vividly about her alleged sexual assault was the two boys’ “uproarious laughter.”
So why, Lesley Stahl asked President Trump during a 60 Minutes interview, did he make fun of Ford at a rally this month, eliciting loud laughter from thousands in the audience?
The president insisted he had treated Ford with “great respect”—and touted how much Kavanaugh was helping the GOP in midterm polling.
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“The way now Justice Kavanaugh was treated has become a big factor in the midterms,” he said. “Have you seen what’s gone on with the polls?”
He then moved to shut down the Ford discussion completely. “You know what? I’m not going to get into it because we won. It doesn’t matter. We won,” Trump said, referring to Kavanaugh’s eventual confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Stahl later asked whether the Trump administration would consider reintroducing some form of its family separation policy, which forcibly separated migrant children from their parents for months.
The president said he wanted “all the laws changed.”
“There have to be consequences, Lesley, for coming into our country illegally,” Trump said. “I mean, part of the reason, I have to blame myself, the economy is so strong that everybody wants to come into the United States.”
The interview later turned to climate change, which Trump has previously called “a Chinese hoax.” Questioned by Stahl, the president didn’t deny that the climate was changing but told her the environment would likely bounce back.
“I think something’s happening. Something’s changing and it’ll change back again. I don’t think it’s a hoax, I think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s man-made,” he said, countering a report from his administration that concluded “human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming.”
Trump said he was not keen on investing money to slow the rising temperatures, despite a recent U.N. report stating an investment of “$2.4 trillion” was needed to do so.
“I don’t want to give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don’t want to lose millions and millions of jobs. I don’t want to be put at a disadvantage,” he said.
Stahl then asked Trump whether he really loved North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after Trump said at a West Virginia rally that he “fell in love” with the dictator. The president said the phrase was merely a “figure of speech” and an “embrace” to “get the job done.”
Stahl pressed Trump, calling the dictator a “bad guy,” but Trump insisted his relationship with Kim was getting results.
“Look. Let it be whatever it is. I get along with him really well. I have a good energy with him,” Trump said. “I have a good chemistry with him. Look at the horrible threats that were made. No more threats. No more threats.”
