Piers Morgan defended the promotion of his upcoming interview with the president.- Morgan faces questions about whether Trump truly walked out of their conversation or not.
TV personality Piers Morgan defended his promotion of an upcoming interview with
NBC News reported audio from the conversation, after The New York Post reported that Trump walked out, that raises questions about whether or not Trump abruptly left the interview. Trump's spokesperson Taylor Budowich also blasted Morgan in a statement to the network.
"This is a pathetic attempt to use President Trump as a way to revive the career of a failed television host," Budowich told NBC News. "It is also another example of President Trump being right, as he told Piers Morgan that the host was dishonest to his face and Piers, for the first time in his life, didn't disappoint."
In the released audio, Morgan thanks Trump for a "great interview" and Trump says "yeah" before asking for the camera to be turned off.
Morgan himself later responded to Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, telling the former president's eldest son that he had done nothing wrong.
"I learned all my promo skills from you guys on Celebrity Apprentice! Nothing misleading or deceptive about it, Don - your dad just got very annoyed when I told him I don't believe the 2020 election was rigged or stolen. Aside from that, it was a terrific interview," Morgan wrote on Twitter.
The former Good Morning Britain co-host later said in a column for The Sun that Trump did in fact return to their interview, which had stretched far beyond the originally allotted 20 minutes before "abruptly jumping to his feet."
"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!'" Morgan wrote of what happened when he pressed Trump on his election lies.
The Post, where Morgan is a columnist, first reported the fallout on Wednesday. Morgan's interview with Trump is set to air later this month in the United States on Fox Nation. Morgan and Trump have a long-running relationship, including when Trump proclaimed Morgan the winner of season 7 of NBC's "The Apprentice," which had been rebranded as a celebrity competition. Morgan also interviewed Trump when he was president, one of Trump's few non-Fox News sitdown interviews.
—Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 21, 2022
Early clips from the interview show an at times heated conversation between the pair.
Morgan told Trump that the 2020 presidential election "was a free and fair election. You lost." Trump responded, "Only a fool would think that."
Trump has refused to concede that he lost the election to President Joe Biden and has supported his allies' efforts to cast doubt on the election's outcome.
According to The Post, Trump was also angered by Morgan's suggestion that the former president's lies about the 2020 election fueled the insurrection at the US Capitol on
"Then you're a fool! And you haven't studied," Trump said.
At other points, Trump called former Vice President Mike Pence "foolish and weak" and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell "stupid." Trump has repeatedly attacked the pair of top Republicans. Pence has said Trump was "wrong" to argue that he could've overturned the election. McConnell said after Trump was acquitted of inciting the insurrection that Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for the violent ransacking of the Capitol.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with audio released by Trump's office from the interview that disputes whether or not the former president angrily walked out of his conversation with Piers Morgan.