OPINION:
When it comes to interviews with the political press, Donald Trump basically has three gears.
The most common gear is best described as “Mortal Kombat.”
In these interviews, the interviewer has no interest in gleaning any actual information from Mr. Trump. The interviewer presents himself as St. George the Dragon Slayer performing for his fellow dragon slayers back at CNN headquarters. The interviewer argues with Mr. Trump and repeatedly interrupts him with “fact checks” that may or may not be based in reality.
Instead of St. George the Dragon Slayer, the reporter comes off as annoying and plays the role of a hapless punching bag with his helmet on backward, flailing away in all the wrong directions.
Mr. Trump is the master of exploiting these interviews to argue his case to the public and earn some from free media while mercilessly pillorying the silly tin-pot sword-waver.
These interviews are tremendously entertaining to viewers at home, but they fail to convince anyone on either side and seldom reveal any new information.
Another type of interview is the “Snoozefest.” These are conducted by Trump friendlies who spend more time fawning over the former president than they do asking serious questions. The interviewers reveal themselves as spineless simps no less annoying than the lapdogs who spent years crotch-nuzzling former President Barack Obama.
In the absence of adversity, Mr. Trump relaxes and gets bored. He retreats to his best-worn arguments that everybody has already heard a thousand times. In the worst cases, Mr. Trump wanders away from his best, sharpest arguments about how he aims to help people and wallows in old slights and grievances against him.
As with “Mortal Kombat,” the “Snoozefest” interview persuades no one, partly because anyone who hasn’t already changed the channel has drifted off to sleep.
Then there is a third kind of interview, conducted by the rare newsman in Washington who bears no personal grudge against Mr. Trump, nor is he some kind of groupie. We call that “The Best Interview,” and it’s what we saw earlier this week when Fox News anchor Bret Baier sat down with Mr. Trump for an extensive interview on “Special Report.”
Mr. Baier was respectful, prepared and unyielding. The result, unsurprisingly, was an informative, engaging and entertaining interview.
The interview was a reminder that Mr. Trump is at his best when he is being challenged. The interviewer is at his best when he is neither a fanboy nor a frothing lunatic. And the voting public is always best served when the interview is conducted in a serious, respectful manner about topics that really matter and allows the interviewee to explain himself and his vision for the country.
Mr. Trump got some solid barbs in against the media and his opponents. He clearly laid out his thoroughly reasonable defense for taking boxes of presidential records home with him to Mar-a-Lago. He was also forced to answer some questions he did not particularly want to answer, which is usually a sign of a successful interview.
“In your mind, did the COVID vaccine work?” Mr. Baier asked.
Mr. Trump dodged for a minute, masterfully using the opportunity to compliment himself by recalling a conversation Mr. Trump had with a “Democrat friend who is very smart.”
“You may have saved the world — throughout the world, 100 million people — and you never talk about it,” Mr. Trump recalled the friend telling him.
Pure Trump at his finest, defending his record while steering clear of something he’s not sure he wants to discuss. But then he cannot help himself, and he dons his political scientist cap to give a clear-eyed, honest assessment of this strange moment in current American politics.
He said that he replied to his very smart Democratic friend, “I really don’t want to talk about it because, as a Republican, it’s not a great thing to talk about because, for some reason, it’s just not.” He gave a perplexed shrug.
Evasive and honest at the same time, with a giant helping of self-congratulation. Pure Trump.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Baier asked the former president if he had been treated fairly in their conversation — a sly liability waiver Mr. Baier wisely secured for future use.
“I don’t know,” Mr. Trump replied. “A couple questions could have been done without, but that’s OK. I enjoyed it.”
Well played on both parts.
• Charles Hurt is opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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