Trump hung up on an NPR interview after being challenged over his false election-fraud claims

• Donald Trump ended an interview after his false election-fraud claims got called out.
• The NPR interview was supposed to last 15 minutes, but Trump hung up after 9.

Former President Donald Trump hung up on an NPR reporter after being challenged about his untrue claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him by fraud.

Trump was interviewed by phone on by NPR's Steve Inskeep in a segment that aired Wednesday.

The discussion addressed Trump's support for the COVID vaccines, before moving on to his election-fraud claims and this year's mid-terms.

Inskeep asked Trump about recent comments by Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, who recently rejected Trump's election-fraud claims, and said that dwelling on the 2020 election could harm the Republicans in future contests.

Trump said that bringing up the 2020 fraud claims is instead "an advantage, because otherwise they're going to do it again in '22 and '24, and Rounds is wrong on that. Totally wrong.".

He went on to dispute ballot counts, criticize judges who've rejected his legal challenges to the election result, and criticize Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has rejected the election fraud claims and backed Rounds.

"You know the real truth, Steve, and this election was a rigged election," said Trump.

But Inskeep challenged him on false claims, citing judges, public officials and even Trump's own layers who have said that they do not think there was widespread fraud in the election.

When Trump asked how President Joe Biden could have gained the 80 million votes which brought him victory, Inskeep replied "If you'll forgive me, maybe because the election was about you."

Shortly after, Trump hung up the phone, cutting short the interview that was supposed to last for 15 minutes but only lasted for 9.

Trump has made backing for his election-fraud claims a test of loyalty, offering public support to GOP candidates who've embraced them and threatening to unseat those who do not.

The former president generally confines himself to interviews with right-wing networks, who don't push back against his claims.