Trump: Passion, hatred in US ‘probably a bad combination’

Former President Trump teased the possibility of political violence in his interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, saying passion and hatred are at an unprecedented level, and “that’s probably not a good combination.”

In an interview released minutes ahead of the start of the first Republican 2024 presidential debate, Trump — who skipped the debate — was asked whether he thought the country was headed toward “open conflict.” He told Carlson there’s “a level of passion and hatred I’ve never seen. And that’s probably a bad combination.”

“I have never seen such spirit, and such passion, and such love, and I’ve also never seen, simultaneously and from the same people, such hatred of what they’ve done to our country,” the former president said.

When Carlson asked him whether he thought the country was headed toward a “civil war,” Trump invoked the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of people marched to the Capitol to try to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to halt the counting of the certified electoral college votes from the states. 

“There’s tremendous passion and there’s tremendous love. You know, Jan. 6 was a very interesting day because they don’t report it properly. I believe it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken before,” Trump said.

He added that there was “love and unity” in the crowd and argued only a “very small group” went down to the Capitol.

More than 1,000 people have been charged in connection to the violence during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol. An estimate of the cost of damage to the Capitol building and grounds and to the U.S. Capitol police is more than $2.88 million, the Department of Justice has said.

Trump is the runaway front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary and decided to skip the debate Wednesday, pointing to his double-digit lead in polls.