Trump: Piers Morgan ‘went out of his way to deceptively edit’ interview

Former President Trump late Wednesday said Piers Morgan “went out of his way to deceptively edit” his interview with the ex-president, after the former “Good Morning Britain” host published a video of the conversation in which Trump appeared to walk off abruptly.

Morgan earlier in the day posted a video promo to Twitter previewing his interview with Trump, which featured parts of their discussion regarding claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

After the video labels the conversation as “the most explosive interview of the year,” Trump is seen calling Morgan “very dishonest” and telling him “let’s finish up the interview,” before leaving his seat and saying “turn the camera off.”

Trump, however, said he did not storm out of the interview, accusing Morgan of “unlawfully and deceptively” editing the conversation. He released audio of the end of the interview that shows the discussion concluding in a friendly manner, with the two men discussing the former president’s golf hole-in-one.

The duo in the audio Trump provided thanked each other at the end of the interview, set to air next week for the launch of “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” Trump was heard saying “turn the camera off” once the conversation had ended, and he called Morgan “dishonest” when he kept asking additional questions despite labeling the previous one as his final inquiry.

While Trump blasted Morgan in the statement Wednesday evening, he said the interview was “very strong” on claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

“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,” Trump said.

“The good news is that the interview was taped by us as a means of keeping him honest. The interview was actually very strong on the 2020 Election Fraud, with me calling him ‘a fool’ if he truly believed those results,” he added.

He said if people “want to make Piers look bad” they should compare the interview promo to the full discussion.

“For those who want to make Piers look bad, compare his video promo and how it was doctored to the real thing. Hopefully they will now be doing some big changes to their final product,” he said.

“It just shows, however, what I have to deal with in the Fake News Media. He went out of his way to deceptively edit an interview and got caught. That is a big story, isn’t it?” he added.

Morgan published an op-ed in the New York Post on Wednesday, titled “How all hell broke loose after my fiery showdown with Trump over his stolen election claims.” In it, he said Trump confronted Morgan before the interview began with a list of rude things the former host has said about the ex-president.

The quotes Morgan included in the op-ed showed him saying the former president was wrong for his behavior after the 2020 presidential election, and concluding that he should be prohibited from office. Morgan also said Trump was “acting like a Mafia mob boss,” and had gone “nuts.”

The relationship between the duo goes back a long time: Morgan was the first winner of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Reached for comment on Thursday, Daisy Dunlop, director of corporate affairs at News UK Broadcasting, which is launching Morgan’s new show, referred The Hill to a tweet from Morgan, which dubbed Trump’s claim as “fake news.”

Asked on Twitter if he had any comment on Trump’s claim that the promo video was “unlawfully and deceptively” edited, Morgan on Thursday wrote “Yes – his claim is fake  news.”

— Updated April 21, 1:11 p.m.