MORTAL COMBAT

Trump ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Goes Off Rails With Wild Death Questions

The president’s interview derailed as he discussed mortality and religion.

Donald Trump’s 60 Minutes interview was derailed by a string of wild questions about mortality, death and his enemies.

The senior president was interviewed by CBS correspondent Ross Douthat on Sunday. Douthat is a conservative Catholic writer who joined the ailing show for its latest season.

Their chat ended with Douthat telling the 80-year-old, “Let’s talk about death.”

The reporter asked Trump if surviving multiple assassination attempts has “some kind of effect” on how he views his own mortality, then said, “What do you think happens when you die?”

The president looked stumped, and after a pause, said, “Well, I hope I’m missed.”

Laughing awkwardly, he repeated, “I hope I’m missed, I don’t know... I think I’ve done a good job as...”

As Douthat talked over him, he repeated, “What do you think happens to Donald Trump when you die. Not your memory, yourself.”

‘I GUESS IT'S GONE UP’

Trump’s Shady Explanation for Wealth Blows Up in His Face

Christopher Buchanan

Trump said, “You mean where I go?,” with the CBS reporter stating, “Exactly.”

The president said, “Well, I’m a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven.”

Douthat asked him, “Do you think you are going to heaven?”

Trump replied, “I hope so. I don’t want to go to hell.”

The 60 Minutes reporter, who was previously the New York Times’ resident conservative commentator, then said he had watched Trump at the memorial service for slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Douthat referenced his widow Erika saying that forgiving your enemies is part of being a Christian.

“That’s right,” Trump said. Douthat then cited the president saying at Kirk’s memorial, “I hate my opponents and I don’t want the best for them.” The reporter admitted that Trump was making “a little bit of a joke,” but added, “I think that facts come through jokes.”

The interview then derailed further when Douthat went even deeper and asked Trump, “Let’s say you pass away, you’re entering the next life, and all you have to do to enter paradise is feel love and forgiveness for James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, anyone who you have expressed hate for over the years. Do you think you can do it?”

The president struggled with the concept of forgiving two of his main enemies. “Well, then I wouldn’t be real, would I?”

He told Douthat that the “easy answer” to his question would be to say, “Oh yes, I could forgive,” before slamming former FBI director Comey and former House Speaker Pelosi. “I found them to be extremely dishonest people, very bad people, very bad for our country. I love our country far more than I can love people and people like that.”

Douthat pushed back. “Is the answer ‘no’, then?” Trump said, “The answer is no...”

The host interrupted him by saying, “Before the judgment throne of God?”

Trump said, “Before the judgment,” and added, “I dislike...I can use the word ‘hate,’ I do hate some of my enemies....they’ve been terrible, look what they’ve put me through, the weaponization, I got indicted...”

Even Douthat, who was hired by the new MAGA-friendly CBS regime, seemed perplexed by Trump’s complaints. “Mr. President. You have had the most charmed and remarkable life of any American in my entire lifetime, and you are telling me you couldn’t find it in your heart to forgive some of your enemies? After all that’s been given to you?”

Trump said the easy answer would be to say, “Yes, I can,” but eventually stated, “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Cameron AdamsReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.