"I don't stand by anything": Donald Trump gets angry when journalist asks him about wiretapping claims

Things got heated when CBS' John Dickerson turned to Trump's discredited claim that he was wiretapped by Obama

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published May 1, 2017 3:03PM (EDT)

 (AP/John Bazemore)
(AP/John Bazemore)

President Donald Trump has been in hot water ever since he made the unproved assertion that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential election.

Things got heated on Sunday when John Dickerson of CBS's "Face the Nation" broached the subject.

After asking whether Trump stood by his claim, the president replied "I don't stand by anything. I just — you can take it the way you want. I think our side's been proven very strongly. And everybody's talking about it. And frankly it should be discussed. I think that is a very big surveillance of our citizens. I think it's a very big topic. And it's a topic that should be number one. And we should find out what the hell is going on."

As Dickerson pressed him on the subject, Trump became increasingly irate.  At one point Dickerson observed that Trump shouldn't want his claim to be dismissed as "fake news," prompting the president to reply, "You don't have to ask me. You don't have to ask me."

When Dickerson asked why, the president shot back, "Because I have my own opinions. You can have your own opinions."

After Dickerson pointed out that Trump's opinions carry more weight because he is the President of the United States, Trump simply replied, "Okay, it's enough. Thank you. Thank you very much."

In the original tweets, Trump accused Obama of "McCarthyism" by wiretapping Trump Tower. He also referred to him as a "bad (or sick) guy!"

 


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

MORE FROM Matthew Rozsa


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Barack Obama Donald Trump John Dickerson Obama Wiretapping Wiretapping