Conservative political consultant Roger Stone has revealed a surprising method of getting former Republican President Donald Trump to say whatever he wants: by simply lying to him.
This revelation is featured in the explosive documentary A Storm Foretold, which offers an in-depth look at Stone, known as the "dirty trickster," both before and after the 2020 election. Although the film has recently premiered in Denmark, it has yet to be released in the United States.
The Daily Beast obtained exclusive footage from the documentary, where Danish filmmakers Christoffer Guldbrandsen and Frederik Marbell captured Stone discussing his manipulation tactics. In a striking contrast, Stone's remarks in the film sharply contradict his glowing praise of Trump during a right-wing conference at Trump's Doral golf club in Florida in October 2019.
The audio of Stone's remarks is included below.
Stone said the following while addressing a crowd of fervent Trump supporters:
“I want to talk to you about Donald Trump."
"Someone who is a force of nature in himself. Someone who marches to his own drummer. Someone who is not handled, not managed. Not controlled."
"A man who cannot be bossed. And cannot be bought, which has made him one of the greatest presidents since Abraham Lincoln.”
“I have a 40-year record of being able to convince the big man to do what’s in his best interest. He’s not easy to deal with. It’s complicated."
"He resents any implication that he is handled or managed or directed.”
However, the documentary reveals a different side of Stone as he speaks candidly about his actual approach to handling Trump.
In the footage, Stone is recorded from a distance, intermittently appearing in and out of the frame while discussing the complexities of dealing with the former president. He explains his strategy of planting ideas in Trump's mind by fabricating stories.
He then presents a hypothetical scenario where he, as an advisor, concocts a fictional event involving Trump delivering a captivating speech in Buffalo to a massive crowd:
“You have to say, ‘Remember that night when we were in Buffalo. And you gave that speech, and God, it had to be 10,000 people, the biggest crowd they’d ever seen. And you said XYZ, and the place went crazy, remember that? I don’t know where you came up with that line, but it’s one of the best things.’”
Stone speculates on Trump's response to the lie, imagining him enthusiastically embracing the fictional anecdote and planning to use it again, before claiming he has used this tactic to get Trump to do his bidding for decades:
“Doesn’t f**king matter that he never said it—doesn’t matter. It’s time-consuming, but it works. I did it for 30 years.”
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Guldbrandsen, one of the filmmakers, commented on Stone's unguarded admission, suggesting that Stone had forgotten he was wearing a microphone when he made those remarks. Guldbrandsen revealed that Stone expressed anxiety the next morning upon realizing what had been recorded.
Stone was mocked online after the footage of his admission went viral.
Even before its release in the United States, the documentary has already stirred controversy surrounding Stone.
Last October, The Daily Beast reported that the film captured Stone insulting Ivanka Trump, referring to her as an "abortionist bitch," and expressing a desire to confront Jared Kushner after not receiving a presidential pardon. Stone also made a remark suggesting that Trump would face severe defeat if he ran for president again.
In another clip obtained by The Daily Beast, Stone criticizes Trump's peculiar taste in movies, revealing the former president's fascination with the film Sunset Boulevard and his habit of watching it repeatedly.
The Daily Beast reached out to Stone for comment, but he did not respond to their request.
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