MSNBC’s Katy Tur on Monday cheered left-wing author Michael Wolff and his new book. In a chummy, one-liberal-to-another sort of way, Tur gushed, “Michael Wolff, it is a fascinating book. Fire and Fury.... Congratulations on the book, and congratulations on the President hating it.”
In a lighting round of questions, the MSNBC host asked if Donald Trump is a racist, sexist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic bigot. Tur got affirmative answers for all but one of the questions. (The answer on hating Jews amounted to what could be called close enough:
KATY TUR: Do you think he's sexist?
WOLFF: I mean, I — that's — yes.
TUR: Do you think he's racist?
WOLFF: Yes. Um, Yes.
TUR: Xenophobic?
WOLFF: I do. Xenophobic — what does that mean? He’s — yeah.
TUR: Afraid of the other.
WOLFF: Yeah.
TUR: Anti-Semitic?
WOLFF: You know, I had this specific discussion with Steve Bannon, who thought not. — yes, maybe he's a racist. Maybe he’s a —
TUR: A lot of people accuse Bannon --
WOLFF: — maybe he’s a racist. He didn't think he was an anti-Semite, but, you know, I don't know. I think that he — he thinks about — I think he's aware of who is Jewish in a way that might give — that feels creepy.
Now, keep those answers in mind as you remember that Wolff is telling other outlets that he has “no political agenda.” In another interview, the author patted himself on the back for a book that “will finally end... this presidency.” Make up your mind, Mr. Wolff.
A partial transcript is below:
MSNBC Live with Katy Tur
01/08/18
2:31KATY TUR: Tom Barrack is saying that he's misquoted. Katie Walsh is saying she's misquoted. Are they all lying?
MICHAEL WOLFF: They are all lying. I mean, they're in a situation where — in a situation now where Donald Trump has come to think that this book is a mortal threat. I don't know if it is or it isn’t. But he certainly feels that way, and he's making demands on everybody. I know, I hear through the grapevine, you know, that Katie Walsh's job is at issue now, and — which I — I regret and even then, she's not really saying that I misquoted her. She's saying that she was quoting something like she was quoting Steve Bannon who said he's a child. Everybody says he's a child, in fact. So we're having — people are scrambling and they are panicked, which I absolutely understand. Nobody saw this book coming, nobody saw that it would be as big as it seems to be and everybody is a deer caught in the headlights.
KATY TUR: You have tapes. Are you going to release the tapes?
WOLFF: No, I'm going to do — you know, I have what every journalist has. I work like every journalist. I have tapes. I have notes.
TUR: But if people are questioning it, why not produce the evidence? And here’s what it is —
WOLF: Because — because that's not what — what — journ — I'm not in your business. My evidence is the book. Read the book. If it makes sense to you, if it strikes a cord, if it rings true, it is true.
TUR: Here's the thing about the book and I read it, I —, a lot of the stuff did read as — felt — did feel true, there were a lot of factual errors as well. We're living in a time with this President where everybody's very —
WOLFF: But, let’s go. Factual errors, I — you know, you get pinned on this, because everybody’s looking to —
TUR: But here's the thing about factual errors and I wrote a book about Donald Trump --
WOLFF: Mark Berman mixed up with Mark Berman.
TUR: CNN was not the one that released the dossier.
WOLFF: That is absolutely, completely untrue.
TUR: Buzzfeed released it.
WOLFF: No, no!
TUR: CNN reported on it, but did no release it.
WOLFF: CNN — CNN — was first on that story.
TUR: They reported on it. They didn’t release it.
WOLFF: Okay, we’re talking about —
TUR: Okay, that’s my point.
WOLFF: But that’s my point. That’s the level we’re talking at here.
TUR: I understand that, but as somebody who wrote a book before Donald Trump I was really cautious that every single fact in there was correct, I didn't want anybody to say, “Your book isn't true because look at this tiny little thing.” Did you have a fact checker go through it?
WOLFF: Yes, I absolutely. I actually had three fact checkers.
TUR: Why open yourself up, is my question?
WOLFF: As I say, the so-called errors that you're talking about are the kind of minuscule errors you're going to find in any book, even yours. I'm up to a particular kind of scrutiny because I’m threatening the president of the United States. And, you know, bring it on is what I say.
TUR: I understand that, and I appreciate that, and this book is very compelling, and there's a lot of it that reads true, that feels true. But we are living in a time right now, where everyone is so anxious about this president, about what he's going to do next. Why not make it abundantly clear where you heard stories, where your attribution is in order to people to feel some comfort?
WOLFF: Because, first thing, if you read the book, I think it is abundantly clear. And you just have to --
TUR: Well, there are —
WOLFF: You just have to read the book, when an author writes a book, that's a very —
TUR: It's a huge thing.
WOLFF: It's a significant thing. Here’s the evidence. It's the book, read the book.
TUR: I agree, and you should read the book. 100 percent.
WOLFF: This idea that, so -- let's go, and address the idea of tapes. I have everything that I do has been — has been — has been specifically closely sourced. That's what we do, we take notes. Would you show — you're a reporter, would you open your notes to the world? That’s — It's called work product. And that turns into a book. If I were in the television business — and that's what we do, cameras, audio. That's one thing, I'm a writer. I'm literally a writer. This is an incredibly — this is a written story. I've told a story. And it just read it. If you think it's — if you don't think it's true, which 35 percent of the country is not going to think it's true. Donald Trump 35 percent, they're not going to buy this.
(....)
2:38:26 p.m.
1 minute and 24 secondsTUR: What is this relationship with women?
WOLFF: It’s — Donald Trump's relationship with women?
TUR: How does he feel about women?
WOLFF: You know, I mean, I think we — I mean, I from the evidence, we can probably deduce how he feels about women — he feels probably — treats them and thinks of them as transactional a way as he thinks about everything.
TUR: Do you think — ‘cause I want to get through a couple other ones — I want to get through a couple other ones, do you think he's sexist?
WOLFF: I mean, I — that's — yes.
TUR: Do you think he's racist?
WOLFF: Yes. Um, Yes.
TUR: Xenophobic?
WOLFF: I do. Xenophobic — what does that mean? He’s — yeah.
TUR: Afraid of the other.
WOLFF: Yeah.
TUR: Anti-Semitic?
WOLFF: You know, I had this specific discussion with Steve Bannon, who thought not. — yes, maybe he's a racist. Maybe he’s a —
TUR: A lot of people accuse Bannon --
WOLFF: — maybe he’s a racist. He didn't think he was an anti-Semite, but, you know, I don't know. I think that he — he thinks about — I think he's aware of who is Jewish in a way that might give — that feels creepy.
(....)
2:40:55 p.m.
14 secondsTUR: Michael Wolff, it is a fascinating book. Fire and Fury. As you can see. I did read it. Congratulations on the book, and congratulations on the president hating it.
WOLFF: Thank you.
TUR: Appreciate your time, sir.
