Donald Trump told Watergate journalist Bob Woodward that the holiday wishes he tweeted out during his presidency for everyone, including “the haters,” were his way of bridging the country’s political divide.
“You know, we have two Americas out there, you realize that?” Woodward told Trump in a recorded interview with the then-president for his 2020 book “Rage,” now released as “The Trump Tapes” audiobook.
“You are president of two Americas, they are divided,” Woodward continued. “Is it, in the end, not your job to be able to bring them together? Isn’t your job, job one, bring them back together?”
Trump agreed and said he’d like to do that. But then he explained: “I think the biggest problem I have for doing that … I would love to do that, because I’ve oftentimes said that … you remember when I put out the Christmas greeting where I said, ‘Merry Christmas to all, even the haters?’ You know, but I would love to be able to do it, but the biggest problem is the media.”
During his presidency, Trump used Twitter to send greetings acknowledging Christmas, New Year’s and even the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to everyone — including “the haters.” He was banned from Twitter after he incited the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.
MSNBC aired Woodward’s exchange with Trump on Wednesday.