British television personality Piers Morgan took the news cycle by storm with a preview of his interview with former Republican President Donald Trump that showed him storming out of the interview.
Trump has vociferously denied the incident, accusing Morgan of "deceptively editing" the chat and for once he's providing proof to back his claim.
Through his spokeswoman, Trump released audio from the taping in which Trump and his reps are heard repeatedly granting Morgan's extensions to the agreed upon time limit for the interview and then ending it casually and cordially.
NEW!\n\nPresident Donald J. Trump:\n\n\u201cPiers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me. He wanted to make it look like I walked out on the interview when my time limit of 20 minutes went over\u2026pic.twitter.com/c5npGXzp7w— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1650511403
In the statement Trump's camp sent along with the audio, Trump excoriated Morgan for what he called an interview that was "unlawfully and deceptively" edited.
“Piers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me."
"He wanted to make it look like I walked out on the interview when my time limit of 20 minutes went over by an hour."
The interview with Trump, being billed as "the most explosive interview of the year," is meant to be the splashy debut of Morgan's new show Piers Morgan Uncensored on Rupert Murdoch's Fox Nation and the forthcoming British television channel TalkTV.
In the promo, Morgan and Trump lock horns over 2020 election conspiracy theories until Trump becomes so agitated he abruptly ends the interview and storms out.
****BREAKING NEWS****\n pic.twitter.com/WdJnPJyMwG— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1650484834
But the released audio, which Trump's team says they captured purposefully "as a means of keeping [Morgan] honest" revealed an entirely different ending to the interview—one in which both men shared a chuckle and then ended things cordially.
https://m.soundcloud.com/breitbart/ending-audio-of-donald-trump-interview-with-piers-morgan?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fbreitbart%252Fending-audio-of-donald-trump-interview-with-piers-morgan&_nlid=XkbA45sBNd&_nhids=rVrXiDmOLz\u00a0\u2026— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1650511583
Conservative pundits and the Trump progeny amplified the message on the platform the former President is banned from.
Actual audio is in the Breitbart story\u2026 it\u2019s totally brutal how misleading and deceptive the Morgan promo edit is. \n\nDeceptive Edits: Audio Contradicts Piers Morgan, Shows He Warped Trump Interview Ending in Promohttps://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/deceptive-edits-audio-contradicts-piers-morgan-shows-he-warped-trump-interview-ending-in-promo/\u00a0\u2026— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1650504554
This is a pathetic attempt to use President Trump as a way to revive the career of a failed television host. It is also another example of President Trump being right, as he told @piersmorgan that the host was dishonest to his face.https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/deceptive-edits-audio-contradicts-piers-morgan-shows-he-warped-trump-interview-ending-in-promo/\u00a0\u2026— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor Budowich) 1650504281
If my team were as unethical and dishonest as the snake @piersmorgan, we would have sensationally edited this clip of Trump to make it look like he threw a tantrum and asked the cameras to be shut off when in reality\u2014the interview was over and we simply wanted to chat off-camera.pic.twitter.com/uuJo4e2zNi— Candace Owens (@Candace Owens) 1650509617
In the audio, Morgan can be heard saying:
“That was a great interview... Thank you very much. I really appreciate it,”
The two can also be heard sharing a chuckle as Trump agrees with Morgan's summation of the chat.
Most relevant is the moment in Morgan's promo in which Trump abruptly stands up from his chair and walks off set, which the released audio reveals happened after the above-quoted exchange.
The audio also reveals Trump and his team repeatedly tried to end the interview sooner for being over time in a series of heated exchanges, but the interview continued after Morgan was able to engage Trump in a discussion of a recent hole-in-one he achieved while golfing.
Some of the soundbites heard in the moments of Morgan's edit where Trump appears to storm out, during which Trump's face is not visible, seem to have been pulled from these earlier disagreements over interview length.
Despite the evidence, Morgan appeared unfazed, taking to Twitter to clap back at the former President and pivot the conversation back to Trump's "Big Lie" claims of election fraud and failure to concede after his loss to President Joe Biden.
Morning, Mr President!\nIt was a great interview, thanks for all your time. \nSorry you got so annoyed that I don\u2019t believe the 2020 election was rigged or stolen from you, but as I said, where\u2019s your proof? If you have it, show us - or accept the result and move on.pic.twitter.com/QD4ONenhfZ— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1650518616
On social media, the news left many scratching their heads.
so it appears Talk TV just lied about how the Trump-Piers Morgan interview ended? very weird. it's not like people weren't going to see the footage.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-releases-audio-appears-refute-claim-walked-interview-2020-questi-rcna25277?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma\u00a0\u2026— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1650505763
Trump going after Rupert Murdoch's Talk TV by leaking to NBC News is certainly something— Aidan McLaughlin (@Aidan McLaughlin) 1650502526
so, we literally watched him walk off in a huff, but that also didn\u2019t happen? what?— Hi-hat Truth (@Hi-hat Truth) 1650502428
Piers Morgan making up a fake wrestling-stunt-style Trump walkout to promote his shitty new talk show so he can buy himself a few more months of sort-of-relevance with which to incel-harass Meghan Markle just a little bit longer is\u2026 the most Piers Morgan thing imaginablehttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1516957234319835137\u00a0\u2026— Paul Fischer (@Paul Fischer) 1650506622
It's all a game and they're on the same teamhttps://twitter.com/rollingstone/status/1517046754239291393\u00a0\u2026— Crack the Skye (Now with Elden Rings) (@Crack the Skye (Now with Elden Rings)) 1650554926
If you couldn\u2019t tell straight away that this promo was fudged to make Piers look like a journalist with morals\u2026 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1516957234319835137\u00a0\u2026— Matt Mitovich (@Matt Mitovich) 1650506566
It\u2019s not possible to make him look worse. The bottom of the barrel is still the bottom. @piersmorganhttps://twitter.com/rollingstone/status/1517046754239291393\u00a0\u2026— Vincent Alvaro (@Vincent Alvaro) 1650527325
Coordinated dramahttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1516957234319835137\u00a0\u2026— Diane Sylvester (@Diane Sylvester) 1650527815
It\u2019s all an act. And the press is breathlessly just repeating what Piers is saying? He\u2019s trying to promote his show!https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1516957234319835137\u00a0\u2026— Priya \ud83d\uddfd (@Priya \ud83d\uddfd) 1650506964
They're both in on the fun. Trump wins! Piers wins! Everyone's entertained! So why am I weeping to myself?— Oz Phills (@Oz Phills) 1650502749
Piers Morgan Uncensored debuts Monday, as does its network TalkTV.
Morgan's interview will stream on the U.S.'s Fox Nation and Australia's Sky Australia.
