Trump Clashes with Fox News Interviewer Over Biden’s Police Defunding

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump clashed with a Fox News interviewer after the former was challenged about a false claim that rival Joe Biden wants to defund the US police.

In a clip of Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday interview with Trump released on Friday, Trump said that his likely opponent in November’s presidential election supported the movement to defund police forces.

But in the interview held on the Oval Office patio, Wallace intervened to say that Biden did not support defunding.

Trump, hoping to prove his allegation, is then seen calling for a copy of a policy charter Biden agreed with Bernie Sanders and was released this week. The document did not prove his claim.

The interview, the first Sunday interview with Trump for more than a year, will be aired in full this weekend.

In the released clip, Wallace noted recent increases in shootings in many cities and asked Trump why he thought such violence was on the rise.

Trump replied: “I explain it very simply by saying they’re Democrat-run cities. They’re liberally run. They’re stupidly run.”

Wallace noted that many cities have long been run by Democratic mayors.

“They’ve run them poorly,” Trump insisted. “It was always bad, but now it’s gotten totally out of control.”

He then made his claim about Biden, saying: “It’s really because they want to defund the police, and Biden wants to defund the police.”

“No, sir, he does not,” Wallace countered.

Trump stood by his claim, incorrectly saying the unity platform endorsed by Sanders, the Vermont senator whom Biden beat in the Democratic primary, embraces calls to defund the police.

Biden has repeatedly said he does not support calls to defund the police and has instead called for policing reform.

Wallace tried to explain, but Trump responded by ordering an aide to go get the document.

“Let’s go! Get me the charter, please!” Trump said.

The teaser ended there but Wallace told Fox News host Bill Hemmer it “led to a very interesting exchange … and he went through it and he found a lot of things that he objected to that Biden has agreed to, but couldn’t find any indication, because there isn’t any, that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police.”