President Trump on Wednesday refused to walk back multiple claims that even some in his own party say can’t be supported by evidence, including that President Obama ordered his phones to be tapped.
Trump told Time he still believes President Obama ordered him to be placed under surveillance in Trump Tower during the campaign, citing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ Wednesday press conference as proof. Nunes said multiple Trump associates and possibly Trump himself had been spied on incidentally through legally obtained warrants during the transition, but repeated there is no evidence to back up Trump’s claim of a direct wiretapping order.
Trump also claimed he was right when he pointed to an incident “last night in Sweden” during a speech, even though he later pointed to a riot in the following days as proof he was correct. He also refused to back away from his campaign trail claim that Sen. Ted Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and insisted that 3 to 5 million illegal immigrants voted during the election, which also has not been demonstrated.
Time’s story was an attempt to see if Trump is lying on purpose in order spread his message. Trump said he truly believes he’s right about all these incidents, and as proof, he pointed to his predictions on the election, Brexit, and Anthony Weiner’s “sexting” scandals.
“I’m a very instinctual person, but my instinct turns out to be right,” Trump said.
“Brexit, I predicted Brexit, you remember that, the day before the event. I said no, Brexit is going to happen, and everybody laughed, and Brexit happened. Many, many things. They turn out to be right.”
Trump also defended making the claim about Cruz’s father and that the British spied on him at President Obama’s request by saying he was merely quoting reports he read in newspapers or saw on TV, not claiming them himself.
When pressed, Trump said it’s not a big issue for him to worry about whether the president should know if information is correct before going public.
“Well, I’m not, well, I think, I’m not saying, I’m quoting,” he said. “I’m quoting highly respected people and sources from major television networks.”
