In the lead-up to the Super Bowl, Fox broadcast an interview between Bill O'Reilly and President Donald Trump. In it, Trump addressed controversial topics like the refugee ban, his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the future of the Affordable Care Act. Here are some highlights:
On the refugee ban:
"I think it was very smooth. You have a 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully."
On Putin:
"I do respect him...I respect a lot people, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get along with them. He's a leader of his country. I say it's better to get along with Russia than not and if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS—which is a major fight—and Islamic terrorism all over the world—major fight—that's a good thing. Will I get along with them? I have no idea."
When O'Reilly countered, saying that Putin is a "killer," Trump didn't back down.
"There's a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What do you think our country's so innocent? You think our country's so innocent?"
On paying for the wall:
When O'Reilly asked how Trump what kind of tariff he would levy on Mexico to pay for his proposed border wall, Trump pivoted, directing the conversation to the loss of American jobs.
"Well right now it's very unfavorable. Right now we're losing our jobs to Mexico. You look at the plants, you look at these massive plants and I have to tell you, I've turned it around. Already, I've turned it around. You see that. Ford has been phenomenal. They canceled the plant, they're building tremendous—."
"Yeah, you intimidated them. They're afraid of you," O'Reilly interjected. "You know these companies."
"I don't know they're afraid, no, no they want to do what's right," Trump insisted.
O'Reilly doubled down on his point. "They want to do what's right? Why didn't they do what was right in the past? They're afraid of you."
"Because the wrong people spoke to them," Trump said. "But they're gonna do what's right and they're bringing jobs back to Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania and all that places that lost their jobs. So that's already happening. I think you're gonna see a tremendous job growth in this country."
On California becoming a sanctuary state:
"Well I think it's ridiculous. Sanctuary cities, as you know, I'm very much opposed to sanctuary cities. They breed crime. There's a lot of problems. If we have to, we'll defund. Do we give tremendous amounts of money to California? California, in many ways, is out of control, as you know. Obviously the voters agree, otherwise they wouldn't have voted for me."
When O'Reilly asked if defunding was Trump's weapon of choice, Trump replied:
"Well, it's a weapon. I don't want to defund a state or a city. I don't want to defund anybody. I want to give them the money they need to properly operate as a city or a state. If they're going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly that would be a weapon."
On voter fraud and presidential responsibility to say verifiably true things:
On the future of American healthcare:
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