Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said Sunday that former President Donald Trump was "unhinged" during the period between his 2020 election loss and January 6, 2021.
Kilmeade's comments came during Fox News' Media Buzz, when host Howard Kurtz played testimony that former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue gave during a January 6 committee hearing on Thursday. The hearing focused on Trump's alleged efforts to pressure officials at the Department of Justice to help change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Donoghue testified that Trump asked him what he would do if he replaced former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Jeff Clark, who pushed Trump's claims about the 2020 election. Rosen said he told the president he would "'resign immediately'" and that he's "'not working one minute for this guy, who I had just declared was completely incompetent.'"
Kurtz pointed out that much of what came out in the January 6 hearing on Thursday had been previously reported—"So if you've been following this, you knew this stuff."
"There's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes which could have a counter argument. For example, we all work for people or work with people that sometimes fly off the handle. You know you kind of wait it out, count to ten, you go back to them a little bit later 'Now that you're calm what do you think?'" Kilmeade responded. "You hear that's the way the president often works."
But Kilmeade later added that Trump was "unhinged during that period."
"I interviewed him at West Point and he was kind enough to give me a few minutes. I've never seen him so angry—that was in between the election and January 6. As soon as we were done he just stormed off," said the Fox News host.
"I've known him for 15 years or 20 years prior to him going to the White House—I've never seen him so angry. So he's convinced he was robbed, there's no doubt about it. But I have not seen any evidence, and these are all incremental examples," Kilmeade added.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's press office for comment.
In an interview on Friday, Republican consultant and pollster Frank Luntz told The Guardian that the former president's grip on the Republican Party is slipping as the January 6 hearings continue.
"I see people no longer drinking the Kool-Aid," he said. "I see people moving away from Trump for the first time."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more
