Update: Donald Trump Jr.’s interview with Sean Hannity aired while the mainstream media watched with notepads ready, or so Hannity supposed.
Trump Jr.’s defended himself by arguing the campaign was “going a million miles an hour” and he simply wanted to hear what Natalia Veselnitskaya — the lawyer who was allegedly going to supply him with information on Hillary Clinton.
“Maybe this is something. I should hear them out, Trump Jr. told Hannity. “This was again just basic information that was going to be possibly there. I wanted to hear them out and play it out.”
Of the meeting, Trump Jr. said that Veselnitskaya had no information on Clinton and the conversation apparently centered around the Magnitsky Act; he also said he took the meeting as a “courtesy to [his] acquaintance” Rob Goldstone, the publicist who arranged it.
“I think what happened [is] he sort of goosed up,” Trump told Hannity. “He built up, there was some puffery to the email, perhaps to get the meeting, to make it happen. In the end, there was probably some bait-and-switch about what it was really supposed to be about.”
Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, who were also present at the meeting, left after a few minutes according to Trump Jr.
In reference to whether he thought he did anything wrong, Trump Jr. said “he didn’t think [his] sirens went up” because the meeting took place before the campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia was even a story.
The last segment of the show centered around how “the mainstream media” handled Trump Jr.’s meeting. His response was surprisingly astute, albeit probably not self-aware: “I think politics is a dirty game.”
Though he continued to by claiming that “the media has really done themselves a disservice by picking sides so flagrantly, they’ve really driven people to actually have to think about it.”
Here’s his full comment:
Trump Jr. also told Hannity he would be willing to cooperate with any investigation into the meeting. “I’m more than happy to cooperate with everyone,” he said. “I just want the truth to get out there.”
Something tells me that the truth will get out, eventually. If it’s any comfort, Trump Jr. promised that he and his family “would do anything for this country.”
Original story continues here:
Guy who knows how to use email and Twitter, Donald Trump Jr., will appear on his dad’s favorite Fox News show tonight (sorry Fox & Friends, you’re clearly the second favorite). Trump Jr. is on Sean Hannity’s show to discuss those “much ado about nothing” emails arranging a meeting with a supposed Kremlin-connected lawyer. Trump Jr. will also share his “his thoughts on the media.”
Before the interview airs, Fox News released a few previews of Trump Jr.’s appearance. To no one’s surprise, Trump Jr. doesn’t regret the meeting, but he would have “done things a little differently.”
Here’s the Fox preview:
Trump Jr. also confirmed he has an email and he knows how to open them, but he can’t help what someone sends him:
President Trump, whose defense of his son was a one-sentence affirmation of his character, encouraged his followers to watch the show on Twitter. Trump Jr. is a “great person who loves his country,” according to his father.
The Associated Press reports that Trump Jr. “did not tell his father” about the meeting:
The show airs at 10 PM ET and this post will be updated when the full interview is available.