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Donald Trump turned a classic, sharp comment disparaging a new book about himself into a classic, sharp proclamation that he’s Team Kanye and definitely not Team Kim on Truth Social.
The former president’s latest post began as an insult against ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, whose book Tired of winning: Donald Trump and the end of the oldest party Was published this week. The book includes talk about Trump’s obsession with far-right conspiracies that he could be reinstated as president after his massive defeat in the 2020 election, as well as some about how Trump liked to brag that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had “admired” his abilities. Draw big clouds – presumably unaware that in doing so Merkel was comparing him to Adolf Hitler. (“He told me there was only one other political leader who got as big a crowd as me,” Trump said bluntly.)
But, surprising no one, the part of Karl’s book that Trump wanted to focus on was the section involving another famous celebrity. According to the book (via Axios), Kardashian was pushing for more prisoners’ sentences to be commuted in the final days of Trump’s presidency, when Trump “straight-up sought retribution,” saying if Kardashian “He would get a reduced sentence if he took advantage of his celebrity connections.” “Getting football stars, who were friends of his, to come visit him at the White House.” (This would have happened if Trump launched an unprecedented wave of federal executions Rolling stone previously reported.)
According to Karl, Kardashian actually tried to appeal to Trump, “seeing it as a small price to pay to bring justice to people she believed were serving unjust sentences.” But, apparently, all the players contacted rejected the offer. “In the last two weeks of his presidency, no one even wanted to be around him,” Carl wrote.
Of course, Trump declared the story “fake news” and said Kardashian — “the most talked-about celebrity in the world” — would be “the last person” he would ask to give the football players a tour of the White House. “I have a lot of teams in the White House from all sports and leagues,” Trump insisted. “If there was the slightest reluctance, I would immediately withdraw the invitation, there would be no negotiations – but that does not happen often.”
Trump further said that he “helped reduce prisoner sentences, but only when qualified, and even more so for Kanye West than for Kim, who probably voted for crooked Joe Biden, and is now in our country. Look at the mess.”
As for everything else in Karl’s book, Trump insisted, there were “lots of other false stories” in the “very boring book”, but nothing worth mentioning!”
Carl’s anecdote — and Trump’s claims in the Truth Social post — mirror some of Rolling Stone’s reporting about the 13 federal executions carried out during the final six months of his presidency. Kardashian had raised the issue of Brandon Bernard, a death row inmate, but at the time, Trump refused to speak to her. While they have previously worked together on commutation and criminal justice issues, Kardashian sent a tweet congratulating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their 2020 election victories.
Trump reportedly said he didn’t want to hear “one word” from Kardashian about anything and added: “Instead she’d have to get Kanye to call me.”