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        Rachel Maddow Left Speechless By Trump's Deposition Fearing He 'Can Get Killed' By Flying Fruit
    

        MSNBC; Drew Angerer/Getty Images
    
By Peter KarlebyApr 28, 2022
Peter Karleby
Peter Karleby is a writer, content producer and performer originally from Michigan. His writing has also appeared on YourTango, Delish and Medium, and he has produced content for NBC, The New York Times and The CW, among others. When not working, he can be found tripping over his own feet on a hiking trail while singing Madonna songs to ward off lurking bears.
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A 2021 deposition by former Republican President Donald Trump was made public via court filings Tuesday. 
Like most Trump depositions, many things he said were a bit bizarre. 
So much so they left even MSNBC's notoriously verbose Rachel Maddow utterly speechless.
Maddow gave a reading of certain passages of the deposition on Wednesday's edition of The Rachel Maddow Show. She was rendered gobsmacked by the  moment Trump said he fears he will "get killed" by flying fruit—yes you read that right. 
See the moment below.
youtu.be
The deposition stems from a 2015 civil suit filed by five activists who claim they were violently attacked by Trump's security guards outside Trump Tower.
Part of Trump's defense seems to be the claim that violence against protestors was necessary because they were trying to kill him with thrown tomatoes. 
If your head is spinning, you're not alone—it made little more sense to Maddow and she's presumably read the entire deposition. She began her segment with an utterly bewildered intro that itself is comedy gold. 
Maddow said:
“I’m going to jump right in here tonight. "I do not think there is any way to ease into this. "I don’t think there is any setup I can give you that would make this any more normal.""No context I can provide you that would make this less weird."She then hit us with the news about Trump's apparent deepest fear—produce.
“With the release of this deposition in this past day, we now know a whole new thing we didn’t know before about former President Trump, which is that he is apparently desperately afraid of a flying tomato."And lest you think this is just a case of liberal sour grapes (sorry), here's what Trump actually said:
"Well, a tomato, a pineapple, a lot of other things they throw...""Yeah, I think that they have to be aggressive in stopping that from happening. Because if that happens, you can be killed if that happens..."The questioning attorney asked Trump to clarify by "be aggressive" he meant he thought physical force was required to deal with the constantly looming mortal threat of protesters throwing pineapples.
Trump replied:
“To stop somebody from throwing pineapples, bananas, tomatoes, stuff like that, yeah, it's dangerous stuff."Maddow, speaking for all of us, could do nothing but simple stare blankly into the camera and stammer:
"I am not smart enough to make something like this up."Naturally, Twitter has had a field day about this supposed epidemic of murderous, tomato, pineapple or banana throwing liberals.
For many people a moment from Monty Pythons Flying Circus came to mind where John Cleese taught the other members how to defend against dangerous fruit attacks.
@maddow read this amazing deposition from the former president* where he talked about the threats he faced from tomatoes and pineapples, and I can't be the only person who heard this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnjYeHBWvKA\u00a0\u2026
 — Charles P. Pierce (@Charles P. Pierce)
        1651108368
When you're walking home tonight and some homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries... DON'T COME CRYING TO ME, Charlie Pierce!https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1519484743405948930\u00a0\u2026
 — Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@Rachel Maddow MSNBC)
        1651121613
Monty Python founding member Eric Idle even retweeted the reference.
@EricIdle/Twitter

Others found humor in other aspects of the absurd deposition. 
With the release of this deposition we now know that Donald Trump is desperately afraid of a flying tomato. If I was a man in his position I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d let the world know that I have that kind of a phobia..\nDid somebody throw a pineapple at this man as a baby?\n\nI  #Maddowpic.twitter.com/durw11ygob
 — TheBadHombreAccount (@TheBadHombreAccount)
        1651110461

I'm still laughing at what @maddow said last night. Matthew Calamari is Mr squids. Trump is afraid of fruit. Watch out for flying tomatoes and pineapples. Rachel is always on fire.
 — Rabid Dog (@Rabid Dog)
        1651162222

#rachelmaddow asked the vital questions about Trump's fruit phobia,"How do we unravel this? Did somebody throw a pineapple at this man as a baby? Does that explain everything?"\n\nhttps://www.politicususa.com/2022/04/27/rachel-maddow-obliterates-trump-for-being-afraid-of-being-killed-by-flying-fruit.html\u00a0\u2026 via @politicususa
 — Sarah Reese Jones (@Sarah Reese Jones)
        1651117944
Warner Brothers working on sequel to hit movie Desperately Seeking Susan. The cast are reunited now nearing retirement age, and look at a fictional President with small hands and ugly hair, afraid of spontaneously airborne tomatoes in:\n\nDesperately Seeking Sanity https://twitter.com/realTuckFrumper/status/1519544957568094211\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/Mq6lMCAGk2
 — Tomi T Ahonen Claims To Not Fear Tomatoes (@Tomi T Ahonen Claims To Not Fear Tomatoes)
        1651163994

Tomatoes, pineapples, bananas. What a weak, weak, bat shit crazy fool. I can\u2019t believe he was president. \u201cTrump is desperately afraid of a flying tomato.\u201d #maddow
 — \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Jayne \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\u2618\ufe0f\ud83c\udfb6\ud83d\udc60\ud83d\udc84\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udc89\ud83c\udfe1 \ud83d\udcbb\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf7b (@\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Jayne \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\u2618\ufe0f\ud83c\udfb6\ud83d\udc60\ud83d\udc84\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udc89\ud83c\udfe1 \ud83d\udcbb\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf7b)
        1651108095

Oh.\nMy.\nGod\u2026\nAnyone watching Rachael Maddow?\nTrump\u2026\nThe tomato deposition
 — Catherine E. Cullen (@Catherine E. Cullen)
        1651107828

imagine if you killed the president with a pineapple you would be legendaryhttps://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1519517561918046210\u00a0\u2026
 — Crowsa Luxemburg (@Crowsa Luxemburg)
        1651165519

In a deposition months ago \u2013 something that his handlers couldn't keep him out of \u2013 Donald Trump testified that he\u2019s afraid people will throw tomatoes at him when he\u2019s in public, and that he could \u201cbe killed\u201d by such a tomato attack. Again, he actually said this.
 — Paul Cogan (@Paul Cogan)
        1651161561

Does Edible Arrangements deliver to Mar-A-Lago?  Asking for a friend.
 — Prince John\ud83c\udf3b (@Prince John\ud83c\udf3b)
        1651123554
Only the gazpacho police can stop a drive-by fruiting.https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1519432488287887369\u00a0\u2026
 — Mueller, She Wrote (@Mueller, She Wrote)
        1651107305
Deadly produce is not Trump's only food-based fear. 
In 2020, he told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that Antifa protesters had been hurling "big bags of soup" at law enforcement.
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A 2021 deposition by former Republican President Donald Trump was made public via court filings Tuesday.

Like most Trump depositions, many things he said were a bit bizarre.

So much so they left even MSNBC's notoriously verbose Rachel Maddow utterly speechless.

Maddow gave a reading of certain passages of the deposition on Wednesday's edition of The Rachel Maddow Show. She was rendered gobsmacked by the moment Trump said he fears he will "get killed" by flying fruit—yes you read that right.

See the moment below.

youtu.be

The deposition stems from a 2015 civil suit filed by five activists who claim they were violently attacked by Trump's security guards outside Trump Tower.

Part of Trump's defense seems to be the claim that violence against protestors was necessary because they were trying to kill him with thrown tomatoes.

If your head is spinning, you're not alone—it made little more sense to Maddow and she's presumably read the entire deposition. She began her segment with an utterly bewildered intro that itself is comedy gold.

Maddow said:

“I’m going to jump right in here tonight.

"I do not think there is any way to ease into this.

"I don’t think there is any setup I can give you that would make this any more normal."

"No context I can provide you that would make this less weird."

She then hit us with the news about Trump's apparent deepest fear—produce.

“With the release of this deposition in this past day, we now know a whole new thing we didn’t know before about former President Trump, which is that he is apparently desperately afraid of a flying tomato."

And lest you think this is just a case of liberal sour grapes (sorry), here's what Trump actually said:

"Well, a tomato, a pineapple, a lot of other things they throw..."

"Yeah, I think that they have to be aggressive in stopping that from happening. Because if that happens, you can be killed if that happens..."

The questioning attorney asked Trump to clarify by "be aggressive" he meant he thought physical force was required to deal with the constantly looming mortal threat of protesters throwing pineapples.

Trump replied:

“To stop somebody from throwing pineapples, bananas, tomatoes, stuff like that, yeah, it's dangerous stuff."

Maddow, speaking for all of us, could do nothing but simple stare blankly into the camera and stammer:

"I am not smart enough to make something like this up."

Naturally, Twitter has had a field day about this supposed epidemic of murderous, tomato, pineapple or banana throwing liberals.

For many people a moment from Monty Pythons Flying Circus came to mind where John Cleese taught the other members how to defend against dangerous fruit attacks.

@maddow read this amazing deposition from the former president* where he talked about the threats he faced from tomatoes and pineapples, and I can't be the only person who heard this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnjYeHBWvKA\u00a0\u2026
— Charles P. Pierce (@Charles P. Pierce) 1651108368

When you're walking home tonight and some homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries... DON'T COME CRYING TO ME, Charlie Pierce!https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1519484743405948930\u00a0\u2026
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@Rachel Maddow MSNBC) 1651121613

Monty Python founding member Eric Idle even retweeted the reference.

@EricIdle/Twitter

Others found humor in other aspects of the absurd deposition.

With the release of this deposition we now know that Donald Trump is desperately afraid of a flying tomato. If I was a man in his position I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d let the world know that I have that kind of a phobia..\nDid somebody throw a pineapple at this man as a baby?\n\nI #Maddowpic.twitter.com/durw11ygob
— TheBadHombreAccount (@TheBadHombreAccount) 1651110461

I'm still laughing at what @maddow said last night. Matthew Calamari is Mr squids. Trump is afraid of fruit. Watch out for flying tomatoes and pineapples. Rachel is always on fire.
— Rabid Dog (@Rabid Dog) 1651162222

#rachelmaddow asked the vital questions about Trump's fruit phobia,"How do we unravel this? Did somebody throw a pineapple at this man as a baby? Does that explain everything?"\n\nhttps://www.politicususa.com/2022/04/27/rachel-maddow-obliterates-trump-for-being-afraid-of-being-killed-by-flying-fruit.html\u00a0\u2026 via @politicususa
— Sarah Reese Jones (@Sarah Reese Jones) 1651117944

Warner Brothers working on sequel to hit movie Desperately Seeking Susan. The cast are reunited now nearing retirement age, and look at a fictional President with small hands and ugly hair, afraid of spontaneously airborne tomatoes in:\n\nDesperately Seeking Sanity https://twitter.com/realTuckFrumper/status/1519544957568094211\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/Mq6lMCAGk2
— Tomi T Ahonen Claims To Not Fear Tomatoes (@Tomi T Ahonen Claims To Not Fear Tomatoes) 1651163994

Tomatoes, pineapples, bananas. What a weak, weak, bat shit crazy fool. I can\u2019t believe he was president. \u201cTrump is desperately afraid of a flying tomato.\u201d #maddow
— \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Jayne \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\u2618\ufe0f\ud83c\udfb6\ud83d\udc60\ud83d\udc84\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udc89\ud83c\udfe1 \ud83d\udcbb\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf7b (@\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Jayne \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\u2618\ufe0f\ud83c\udfb6\ud83d\udc60\ud83d\udc84\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udc89\ud83c\udfe1 \ud83d\udcbb\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf7b) 1651108095

Oh.\nMy.\nGod\u2026\nAnyone watching Rachael Maddow?\nTrump\u2026\nThe tomato deposition
— Catherine E. Cullen (@Catherine E. Cullen) 1651107828

imagine if you killed the president with a pineapple you would be legendaryhttps://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1519517561918046210\u00a0\u2026
— Crowsa Luxemburg (@Crowsa Luxemburg) 1651165519

In a deposition months ago \u2013 something that his handlers couldn't keep him out of \u2013 Donald Trump testified that he\u2019s afraid people will throw tomatoes at him when he\u2019s in public, and that he could \u201cbe killed\u201d by such a tomato attack. Again, he actually said this.
— Paul Cogan (@Paul Cogan) 1651161561

Does Edible Arrangements deliver to Mar-A-Lago? Asking for a friend.
— Prince John\ud83c\udf3b (@Prince John\ud83c\udf3b) 1651123554

Only the gazpacho police can stop a drive-by fruiting.https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1519432488287887369\u00a0\u2026
— Mueller, She Wrote (@Mueller, She Wrote) 1651107305

Deadly produce is not Trump's only food-based fear.

In 2020, he told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that Antifa protesters had been hurling "big bags of soup" at law enforcement.

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