President Donald Trump's interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
Trump's critics say the 30 minute interview made plain Trump's most damaging shortcomings, particularly in regards to understanding the data surrounding the pandemic that's killed over 150 thousand Americans.
One particularly tense clip, in which Swan presses Trump on the misrepresentation of death rate data, has dominated screens across the country.
Watch below.
.@jonathanvswan: “Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. I'm talking about death as a proportion of population. That's where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc."@realdonaldtrump: “You can't do that."
Swan: “Why can't I do that?" pic.twitter.com/MStySfkV39
— Axios (@axios) August 4, 2020
Swan pointed out that the President was touting the death rate in terms of the number of cases, not deaths in proportion to population.
Trump responded:
"You can't do that."
What happened next was an awkward shuffle of papers and a brandishing of graphs.
Now, one clever editor Justin T. Brown recreated the video to make it appear as though Trump is arguing with himself. The video has since been shared by the prominent anti-Trump Republican group, The Lincoln Project.
The results are eerily comical.
Ok. Who made this? It's genius. pic.twitter.com/EkwG2RlDel
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 5, 2020
Suddenly, Trump was in a dialogue with himself:
"You're last."
"No, but you're not reporting it correctly."
The two Trumps had the internet cackling.
pic.twitter.com/GDwutseqCh
— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) August 5, 2020
Trump's favorite person! pic.twitter.com/t8j9gYEenl
— Mind of Midwesterner (@counttillbiden) August 5, 2020
The farting made me spit out my drink. I swear to God.😂
— Jason Overstreet (@JasonOverstreet) August 5, 2020
This totally explains why Trump talks the way he does. At any given point in time, we are listening to only one half of his conversation.
— Physical Distance Singh, MD 🌊 (@LabyrinthWeaver) August 5, 2020
I don't think that I've laughed this loud and this hard in a very long time 😂😂😂
— Joya (@zfjzf2119) August 5, 2020
Makes as much sense as the actual interview
— Big D Daddy from Cincinnati 🌊 🆘 (@effingrandy1) August 5, 2020
The interview has now seen several edited iterations online.
Donald Trump's HBO Axios interview with @jonathanvswan absolutely verbatim but instead of Donald Trump it's Liza Minnelli. pic.twitter.com/PhPciBYcJH
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) August 4, 2020
OMG
Excellent take on the Trump Axios interview. Idk whether to laugh or cry!
🔊 volume up#TrumpHasNoPlan pic.twitter.com/LTNSfAo1nV
— 𝕋𝕚𝕡𝕤𝕪_𝕋𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕟 #Bluenami2020 (@Tipsy_in_Texas) August 5, 2020
Slightly edited the Axios Donald Trump Interview so it would look more like The Office lmao
Definitely watch the actual interview on HBOMAX, it's super insightful and entertaining. pic.twitter.com/YwvEnVDmzy
— Shirobako Stan - Mauricio (@Browntable_Ent) August 4, 2020
You can watch the full Axios interview here.
AXIOS on HBO: President Trump Exclusive Interview (Full Episode) | HBOwww.youtube.com
frozen GIF by Walt 
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