After all three networks spent reports hyping yet another “bombshell” tell-all book about the Trump administration, this time from former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, ABC’s Martha Raddatz was ready to tease her own exclusive interview with Bolton on The View, Thursday.
Just like she did on Good Morning America, Raddatz was hyperbolic in describing the contents of Bolton’s trash-talking tale:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Boy, is this a blockbuster!
RADDATZ: It's a total blockbuster. I'm telling you. Page after page is just jaw-dropping what John Bolton says about President Trump throughout the book, throughout our interview, and there's lots more of that interview to come on Sunday.
The View co-host wondered why Trump was trying to stop the book’s publication after praising Bolton after he left the White House. Raddatz downplayed Trump firing Bolton to play up his credibility:
The extraordinary thing here is this is the highest ranking person we have heard from who was in that White House who was side by side with President Trump for 17 months. This is the most comprehensive account from that high ranking official we have heard. He uses phrases like, ‘President Trump is erratic, stunningly uninformed, ignorant of basic facts. He thought Finland was part of Russia, thought it would be cool to use military action in Venezuela.’ This is all what John Bolton is talking about.
Sunny Hostin recited those insults again before giving an instant replay from the Raddatz interview. Clearly impressed by the trash-talking, Raddatz gushed, “Again that clip, you just played, he does not think that Donald Trump is fit to be President. That is an extraordinary statement from a top official, a former top official about a sitting President!”
Meghan McCain did get to press Raddatz on Bolton’s lack of credibility. She pointed out he appeared to be a disgruntled employee who was seeking revenge. But Raddatz quickly shut that notion down, because anyone trash-talking the president is pure of heart and must be believed:
“[H]e definitely had clashes with John Bolton, but John Bolton would tell you he is not a disgruntled employee. This book he says is just about the facts.”
Joy Behar also offered criticism from the left, whining that Bolton seemed to be using this situation to make a profit since he refused to testify during impeachment. While acknowledging the criticism, Raddatz noted at least it seemed he was willing to talk now, before the election:
“Now I think he's talking and writing this book, says Bolton, because of the upcoming election,” she said. Behar joked, “Better late than never!”
In case it wasn’t obvious this was just another ploy to get President Trump impeached, Sunny Hostin asked Raddatz to call a NeverTrump super pac ad that questioned Trump’s health, “fair game:”
HOSTIN: Now given how he has gone after Biden saying he has, quote, “lost step mentally,” and we saw how he attacked Hillary for not having the strength and stamina to be President, is this kind of scrutiny fair game?
RADDATZ: Well, it's obviously sort of back at you, President Trump, for things he said about Joe Biden and again, Hillary Clinton who he talked about all the time and her health, and they would run videos that somebody took that he said showed she was not healthy. So I think this really is a back at you, and it will probably continue to be a campaign issue.
Hostin has previously suggested the 25th Amendment could be used against President Trump. She ended the interview by asking if Bolton was "worried” about being prosecuted by the DOJ over his book. Raddatz assured her he had nothing to worry about:
I don't think he does seem at all worried about this...I don't know how they can possibly stop the release of this book. Obviously he's already done an interview with us as well, and there are excerpts of the book that are leaking out, and by the way, as soon as the President started talking about this, the book skyrocketed on the bestseller list.
While the media hypes Bolton’s memoir, it's worth remembering the disdain they had for former Obama officials who came out with books criticizing the Democrat president, during his administration.
Read a partial transcript, below:
The View
6/18/20
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Boy, is this a blockbuster!
MARTHA RADDATZ: It's a total blockbuster. I'm telling you. Page after page is just jraw-dropping what John Bolton says about President Trump throughout the book, throughout our interview, and there's lots more of that interview to come on Sunday.
WHOOPI: Well, as you know, he is enraged about the book, and for months he's been trying to keep it from being published, but he's been tweeting over the last 24 hours calling Bolton a liar and a wacko. I mean, he actually -- didn't he hire Bolton? I mean, it's kind of wild to have him say, this is all the case with Bolton now. When he praised him when he left, what's happening here?
RADDATZ: Well, he certainly did praise him when he left, but the President says he fired Bolton. Bolton says he resigned after 17 months, but the extraordinary thing here is this is the highest ranking person we have heard from who was in that White House who was side by side with President Trump for 17 months. This is the most comprehensive account from that high ranking official we have heard. He uses phrases like, ‘President Trump is erratic, stunningly uninformed, ignorant of basic facts.’ He thought Finland was part of Russia, thought it would be cool to use military action in Venezuela. This is all what John Bolton is talking about.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Martha, Bolton is very candid in the book about his assessment of the President as you just mentioned, and you asked him about that in your interview. I believe we have a clip.
RADDATZ: You have described the President as erratic, foolish, behaved irrationally, bizarrely, you can't leave him alone for a minute. He saw conspiracies behind rocks and he was stunningly uninformed. He couldn't tell the difference between his personal interests and the country's interests.
BOLTON: I don't think he's fit for office. I don't think he has the competence to carry out the job. There really isn't any guiding principle that I was able to discern other than what's good for Donald Trump's re-election.
HOSTIN: Now based on details that have been leaking out from the book, Bolton goes on to say that the Ukraine call that was at the center of Trump's impeachment charges was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his abuses of power. He even describes an incident when President Trump asked China's President XI to help him win re-election in 2020. What have you learned about that?
RADDATZ: Well, what Bolton says is that Trump asked President XI to buy U.S. soybeans and wheat so he could get the vote in the farm states so he could tell the farmers, look. I have this great deal. They're buying wheat and soybeans, and he said he heard Trump pleading with Xi to ensure he would win, but listen to that statement, again that you just played, he does not think that Donald Trump is fit to be President. That is an extraordinary statement from a top official, a former top official about a sitting President.
..
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yes. Yes. As we mentioned, the Trump administration, Martha, has been trying to stop the book's publication. My understanding is that last night the DOJ filed for a temporary restraining order to stop its release saying that it contains classified information, and that Bolton did not go through the proper clearance process. President Trump has even suggested that Bolton will face criminal liability for having written it. Could this lead to prosecution for Bolton by the department of justice, and having spoken with him, does he seem at all worried about that?
RADDATZ: I don't think he does seem at all worried about this. I think he expected it. He had already been through one process at the White House, and he was cleared, and he actually made some changes into the book adding footnotes, taking away some quotation marks from foreign leaders. I have no idea whether he could be prosecuted. You're probably better on that, Sunny, than I am, but he is definitely -- does not seem worried about that, and there are hundreds of thousands of books out there right now probably ready to ship. So I don't know how they can possibly stop the release of this book. Obviously he's already done an interview with us as well, and there are excerpts of the book that are leaking out, and by the way, as soon as the President started talking about this, the book skyrocketed on the bestseller list.
