The White House posted and then rushed to delete an hour-long recording of an event with President Donald Trump that captured him lashing out at the Supreme Court after justices signaled expressed skepticism about his birthright citizenship case.
The president privately hosted a group of MAGA pastors and religious allies Wednesday for an Easter luncheon at the White House. Trump made several bonkers remarks during the event, which was never meant to be seen by the public, as the White House quickly deleted the footage from its official pages.
The footage, however, was saved online by Business Insider reporter Bryan Metzger.
While he thought the cameras weren’t rolling, the president let it rip about his true feelings about Supreme Court justices, including his own appointees, after he stormed out of oral arguments at the court earlier that day.
“Republicans, judges, and justices,” Trump began. “They always want to show that they’re independent.”
“‘I don’t care if Trump appointed me, I don’t care, if it doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m voting against him!” Trump said, visibly annoyed.
“Cause they want to show their independence, you know, stupid people,” complained Trump.
He also insulted French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he is trying and failing to get to commit to fully supporting his war with Iran.
Trump implied that Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macron, gets physical with him.
“I called up France, Macron, whose wife treats him extremely badly, and he’s still recovering from the right to the jaw,” he said, soliciting laughs from the faithful audience.
At one point during the private Holy Week event, Trump appeared to take credit for sales of one of mankind’s oldest texts, the Bible.
“So, Bible sales are now at the highest number in many decades,” he said. “And church attendance among young people nearly doubled compared to five years ago, just five years ago.”
Trump then once again likened himself to a king, as he complained about the delays his ballroom vanity project is facing after a federal judge ordered construction to halt on the multi-million dollar project.
“I can’t get a ballroom approved. It’s pretty amazing, right? If I was a king, we’d be doing a lot more. I’m doing a lot, but I could be doing a lot more if I was a king,” he lamented.
During the faith-focused event, the president also offered a candid glimpse into why he aligns himself with unsavory figures.
“You know, we’re not supposed to be seduced that way, right? But I am. When someone’s nice to me, I love that person. Even if they’re bad people,” he confessed. “I couldn’t care less. I’ll fight to the end for them.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment.
