Former President Donald Trump lashed out at TV personality Piers Morgan and produced an audio recording contradicting Morgan’s promotion for their upcoming interview showing Trump walking off the set when confronted with his election lies.
A video teaser for the interview, set to air next week on the Fox Nation streaming service, shows Trump reacting poorly to Morgan’s questions about the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.
The teaser, released Wednesday, suggests that Trump walked out while calling Morgan — a conservative former British TV host who previously said he considered Trump a “good friend” — “dishonest.”
But an audio recording released by Trump’s team to media outlets captures the pair laughing later during the interview as they discussed golf.
“That was a great interview,” Morgan is heard saying as the sit-down appears to conclude. “Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.”
Trump, in a statement tweeted by a spokesperson Thursday, ripped the video teaser and his former friend.
“Piers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me,” Trump said. “For those who want to make Piers look bad, compare his video promo and how it was doctored to the real thing. Hopefully they will now be doing some big changes to their final product.”
Morgan responded on Twitter that his promo was “as rigged as the 2020 Election.”
Trump has famously protested the 2020 election result, but failed to produce any convincing evidence backing his repeated lies that he rightfully won. He lost 61 of his 62 lawsuits challenging the election, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals without comment.
“With respect, you haven’t produced the hard evidence,” Morgan says at one point in the teaser clip, as Trump attempts to speak over him.
Elsewhere, Trump gets in a zinger at Morgan: “I don’t think you’re real!”
The clip ends with Trump grumbling “Turn the camera off ... Very dishonest,” and walking away from where he and Morgan had been sitting.
The full interview is scheduled to air in the U.S. on Monday.
This article has been updated to reflect Trump’s audio recording and statement.