Trump team releases audio it says refutes Piers Morgan's claims that the former president cut his interview short and walked off set
- TV host Piers Morgan sat down with former President Donald Trump for an interview set to air on April 25.
- In promotional clips, Trump appears to angrily walk off set following questions about the 2020 election.
The Trump team released audio that it says refutes Piers Morgan's claims that the former president cut their interview short and walked off set.
Morgan sat down with Trump in an upcoming interview on the TV host's new show "Piers Morgan Uncensored," which is scheduled to air on TalkTV on April 25.
In a promotional clip of the interview, the former president appeared to get angry with Morgan, who was pressing him about the 2020 election, before getting up from his chair and saying "turn the camera off" as he walked off set. The former president can be heard off-camera muttering, "Very dishonest," before the clip ends.
Trump has pushed false claims about the 2020 election and the former president and his allies have repeatedly attempted to overturn President Joe Biden's democratically elected win.
Morgan described the aftermath of the interview in a column published by British tabloid The Sun.
"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. "Then he turned on his heels, and sloped angrily off through a side door, loudly muttering 'SO dishonest…'"
Taylor Budowich, the communications director for former President Donald Trump, appears to paint a different picture of how the interview with Morgan ended. In recorded audio supplied to NBC News and far-right news site Breitbart, the two men are heard thanking each other following the interview.
Representatives for the former president didn't immediately return Insider's request for comment.
"That was a great interview," Morgan can be heard saying at the end of the 7.5-minute audio clip, to which Trump agrees.
"Thank you very much. I really appreciate it," Morgan continues, after which the former president says "turn the camera off."
In the audio, a man, identified by NBC News as Budowich, repeatedly told Morgan that he could ask one last question, but the television personality asked several more.
"Is that the last question? You've said 'the last question' four times now," the man, identified as Budowich, could be heard telling Morgan in the audio clip. "So I feel like you're lying at this point," to which the former president added: "Very dishonest."
Budowich accused the show's producers of deceptively editing promotional clips to make it appear that Trump walked off the set angrily in response to Morgan's questions about the 2020 election. He told NBC News that Trump expected the interview to last 20 minutes, but instead it was drawn out to over an hour.
A representative for Morgan did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.