Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Unruly And Violent’: Crowd Boos Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief For Slamming Trump’s 2020 Transfer Of Power

Trump on Bloomberg discussing Jan. 6 events [Screenshot/YouTube/Bloomberg Television]

Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait was booed Tuesday during his interview with former President Donald Trump after pressing him on the Jan. 6 riots, stating the 2020 transfer of power was the “worst” in recent memory.

In early May, corporate media repeatedly pressed Republicans on whether they would certify the election if Trump lost, citing the Jan. 6 riots and blaming Trump for the event. During the interview at the Economic Club of Chicago, Micklethwait described Jan. 6 as a display of America’s democracy being “unruly and violent,” and asked Trump if he would “commit now” to “respecting and encouraging a peaceful transfer of power.”

“Well, you had a peaceful transfer of power,” Trump responded.

“You had a peaceful transfer of power? You had a peaceful — Come on, President Trump,” Micklethwait pushed back as the crowd could be heard cheering for Trump’s response. “You had a peaceful transfer of power compared with Venezuela, but it was by far … the worst transfer of power for a long time.”

Trump then turned to the audience and thanked them for their support before Micklethwait asked if he would “respect the decision” if he lost to Vice President Kamala Harris.

“When I found out about this interview, I did a little check. This is a man that has not been a big Trump fan over the years, so I had a choice,” Trump said. “Do I do this interview or not? I’m glad I did it, but do I do this interview or do I disappoint a lot of people? Because I know a lot of people in the audience, but his view is very different than mine.”

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“We had a term peacefully and patriotically. These were people. If you think an election is crooked, and I do 100%. If you think — the day it comes when you can’t protest, you take a look at the Democrats. They protested 2016, they’re still protesting, and nobody talks about them. But if we protest, we want to have honest elections. You think the last election was honest?” Trump asked.

In early June Congress unveiled provided footage from HBO, showing former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating on camera that she took “responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.” Both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly failed to take action despite having knowledge prior to the event that suggested the day would unfold in chaos and violence, according to a 2023 senate report.

Micklethwait pointed out to Trump that courts had dismissed cases challenging the 2020 election. While Trump acknowledged the comment, he emphasized that the “facts” didn’t align with judges’ rulings, which cited a lack of standing.

“I left the morning that I was supposed to leave. I went to Florida, and you had a very peaceful transfer. This was not a — and I’ll tell you what those people that did go dead, which was a tiny fraction of the people that went to Washington,” Trump continued. “I mean, you’re talking about a very, very small — because [there were] hundreds of 1000s of people, and I don’t know what you had 5, 6, 7, hundred people go down to the Capitol.”

“But those people that was not, that was — not one of those people had a gun. Nobody was killed, except for Ashley Babbitt. She was killed,” Trump said.