Donald Trump’s first big magazine cover since announcing his presidential bid dropped on Wednesday.
The interview began by asking about the criticism his campaign has received thus far — and if he happened to remember the last time he apologized to someone. “I believe in apologizing,” he said. “But to apologize for me is very difficult. I definitely would apologize if I were wrong on something.”
The last time he said he was sorry, however, “was too many years ago to remember. I have one of the great memories of all time, but it was too long ago.”
A quick scan of Trump’s Twitter archives shows that he never used the word “apologize” — except to accept the apologies of others or demand that others apologize. He has used the word sorry many times — usually when addressing losers and haters, explaining his absence on Fox & Friends, or discussing Rosie O’Donnell — someone he has notably not apologized too.
Searching through old news articles turns up only one instance of the phrase, “Donald Trump apologizes.” A headline from the Monroe News-Star in 2013 reads, “’Duck Dynasty’ celebrity Jase gets hobo treatment in NY; Donald Trump apologizes”
During the interview, Trump also had the opportunity to name many of the people he does like. The list of people Trump thinks are great or amazing or incredible includes Bill O’Reilly, Ronald Reagan, Jordan Roth, Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Maureen Dowd, Melania Trump, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Maher, Mark Burnett, Jeff Zucker, Tom Brady, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Dr. John Trump, Matt Drudge, and “people that like me and respect me and that like my views.”
Trump also said he is willing to kiss babies and shake hands to make America great again, that the person who plays him in the HBO movie about this election has to be “really, really good-looking,” that he never was a fan of Bill Cosby, and that anyone in the GOP making gay marriage “an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it.” He also said that people in Hollywood are calling him to say, “Donald, I’m a super liberal, I’m voting for you. Do me a favor, don’t tell anybody about it.” He didn’t mention any names.
Meanwhile, other news outlets have been busy tallying up the potential cost of Trump’s proposed immigration plan — which would revoke birthright citizenship, erect a giant wall at the Mexican border, and create several other new immigration policies. Politico estimates that the program would cost about $166 billion — not including potential economic costs. An immigration expert told National Journal, “A pause in immigration would put a huge dent in the American economy that is virtually impossible to quantify.” Business Insider’s tally of the plan’s cost notes that the price tag should take the $15 billion undocumented immigrants pay toward Social Security.
In other words, it would cost more than 16 Donald Trumps, if you use the net worth disclosed on his campaign documents. If you use Bloomberg’s smaller tally of his net worth, the government would need more than 55 Donald Trumps to pay for the plan.
Last night, Bill O’Reilly — who Trump says is “so great” — got a bit frustrated when the candidate argued that the 14th amendment does not give citizenship to children born here.
“I can quote it!” O’Reilly said. “You want me to quote you the amendment? If you’re born here, you’re an American — period! Period!”
Trump remained unconvinced. “Bill, I don’t think that they have American citizenship … We have to start a process where we take back our country. Our country is going to hell.”
