Trump Talks Cheney, Hageman, Energy, Election Results, and His Love For Wyoming on Wake Up Wyoming
Former President Donald Trump is excited to come to Wyoming on Saturday.
That's what he told Glenn Woods on Wednesday when he called into the Wake Up Wyoming show.
Trump joined Woods in preparation for his Save America Rally that will be held on Saturday, May 28 at the Ford Wyoming Center. Trump will be appearing, alongside his son Donald Jr. and Republican House of Representatives candidate Harriet Hageman, whom he has previously endorsed.
Calling into Wake Up Wyoming, Trump reflected on his time in the White House.
"The swamp was not drained," Trump began. "I drained it a lot, but nobody knew it was gonna be that deep and murky."
For those unaware, 'Draining the swamp' is a political term used by both Republicans and Democrats and it means, according to the Dictionary, that somebody is attempting to "root out corruption."
That's what Trump said he tried to do during his time as the President, but that there were some obstacles in his way.
"Barr didn't have the courage he needed," Trump said of Bill Barr, his former attorney general. "He was afraid of being impeached, so he didn't do the job that he should have done. Barr was just not there. He wasn't the right guy, and a couple of others, but generally speaking, we had very good [sic] and we did drain the swamp."
Barr, who has called Trump 'an unhinged maniac,' also stated that he believes the former president is responsible for the January 6 Capitol Riot.
Trump, of course, continues to deny any involvement in the attacks. He also denies any other 'fake narrative' that opponents have included him in, including Russian collusion and more.
"I was against fake narratives," Trump told Woods. "You saw the whole thing going on with Durham now, where that was a concocted campaign on Russia, Russia, Russia. So, I'm fighting off phony campaigns. All these phony campaigns are being fought off like crazy, and successfully fought off. But, you know, the level of dishonesty on the other side was incredible. I went through two fake impeachments. I went through the Mueller bullsh*t. It's a terrible thing that we had to endure, and we endured it. And a lot of people said nobody else could have. And it was all made up stuff. The perfect phone call; you get impeached over a perfect phone call."
The 'perfect phone call' that Trump is referring to is a conversation that he had with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he was alleged to have asked Zelensky to investigate President Biden and his son, Hunter.
Fact checkers wrote that "on the call, 'the President pressured Mr. Zelenskyy to … initiate or continue an investigation into the activities of former Vice President Joseph Biden and his son, Hunter Biden,' and assist a U.S. review of allegations that the 'Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election originated in Ukraine,' according to the whistleblower’s complaint. Trump asked Zelensky to 'meet or speak with two people the President named explicitly as his personal envoys on these matters, Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani and Attorney General [William] Barr,' the complaint said."
President Trump was impeached for that 'perfect phone call,' but he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Trump said, he did a lot of good things for the country.
"We rebuilt the military," he boasted. "We cut taxes at the lowest level we've ever done. Bigger than the Reagan tax cuts. The border was the most secure it's ever been in the history of our country. Now it's the worst we had."
Trump then spoke about the energy realm, something that is very near and dear to the hearts of many Wyomingites.
"We were energy independent," Trump stated. "Think of that energy independence, and compare that to what we have now. We'll be going to Venezuela and asking for energy. We were energy independent. Now they want to get rid of your state. If you look at your state's energy - you're a big energy state. I'll be there very soon. And I look forward to that. That'll be great."
Which naturally segues into the reason Trump will be in Casper on Saturday, which is to hold a rally that he hopes will 'Save America,' while also publicly endorsing Republican House of Representatives candidate Harriet Hageman.
Glenn Woods mentioned that, previously, Hageman had some choice words for the former President, but that hasn't deterred Trump from endorsing the person that he thinks will win.
"I had a choice and I had to pick somebody that's gonna win," Trump revealed. "I've become closer with her. She didn't know me. I've never met her. She's never met me. The problem with that is, especially when you go back to 2016, nobody knew me. So, if I went by that standard, I could never endorse anybody. Look at JD Vance. I endorsed him. He made Harriet look like a baby in terms of what he said, but he's the one that's gonna win the race. I have to pick people that are gonna win races."
Like a thoroughbred horse, Trump picks winners. Whether Hageman does, in fact, unseat Liz Cheney from her position remains to be seen, but Trump seems confident in his choice.
"I had some good people, I really did have some good people, but I just felt that she was, uh, very good," Trump stated. "Your wonderful Senator up there really gave her a very - who is a tremendous person by the way - was very strong on her, wanted her very badly. And I had people in Wyoming that really wanted her, you know, they were asking me, 'Please, please.' They were pushing hard for her, much harder than anybody else. And I have to let that play a role, you know?"
Trump continued his endorsement of Hageman, both as a Republican and as an attorney. And he said his endorsement came because he listened to the people of Wyoming.
"I think she's done very well from what I hear," Trump said. "Her campaign has been great. I'm gonna see her on Saturday, but her campaign has been very strong. She's doing very well. You know, I listened to people from Wyoming in making that pick and they felt very, very strongly about it. They liked that Harriet is a strong woman who did very well, and she's supposed to be a great lawyer, I've heard."
Of course, we can't mention Hageman without mentioning her opponent, Liz Cheney. Trump certainly did, but he also alluded to something that may explain why he's taken Congresswoman Cheney's words and actions so personally.
Trump referenced the fact that, as the sitting President, he pardoned former Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby. According to Fortune, "More than a decade ago, Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection to an investigation into the leaked identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame during the Iraq war."
Trump pardoned Libby in 2018, without conditions and he considered that to be a favor to the Cheney family.
"It's an amazing thing," Trump said. "I did something for the family that I did for myself, really, because I've heard that Scooter Libby was treated horribly by Bush; that Bush did not take proper care of him, didn't give him a pardon. And I gave him a pardon without even talking about that. But he was very close to the Cheneys and I gave Scooter Libby a pardon. That was a big, big thing. Senior VP Cheney couldn't get that done with Bush. Bush didn't want any part of it. He was afraid. He thought it would look terrible. And he was in jeopardy. He was actually in very big jeopardy, Bush. And Scooter Libby helped him a lot. And then Scooter Libby paid a very big price and the Cheney family felt so str- and I didn't do it for her or for anybody. I did it because it was the right thing to do."
Because of that act, Trump assumed that he would remain in the good graces of the Cheney family but that, of course, did not happen.
"I took care of it and I was very surprised [by Liz Cheney's actions]," Trump admitted. "I disagree with her in a lot of things, cause she'd like to be in a war in every country. And I, as you know, I'm the one that kept Russia out...Russia & Ukraine would have never, as an example, that would've never happened; that disaster that we're in right now."
Trump then argued that Cheney seemed to have "jumped ship," despite her political ties to the Republican party.
"What happened is, all of a sudden, she was just radical left because she's now the Democrats' best asset," Trump said. "They quote her all the time. They say 'Republican Liz Cheney,' and then, you know, hit it with bombs. She's gone bad, really bad. Surprising. The Republicans in the House who - good people, some really tough, good people - people that you like and support, they just can't stand her. And she's just not been good."
Trump then told Woods something that shouldn't shock the people who live in Wyoming.
"I don't know if you know this," Trump started, "but Wyoming - cause I won big states, I won Alabama by massive numbers, I think 45 points - Wyoming was my number one state in the union for margin of victory. Did you know that? It's an incredible place. I love it."
Of course, one of Wyoming's greatest exports is its oil and gas realm, along with coal. And that's something that Trump spoke about at length with Woods, offering his opinion on how to get back to having good, reliable, affordable energy in Wyoming.
"I'm gonna open it up, we're gonna open it up strongly," Trump said. "It should have never been closed. Look, they [presumably the Biden Administration] just ended two of the biggest oil and gas leases anywhere in the country. They just ended it last week and nobody can even believe it. I actually think they don't know what they're doing. They're either grossly incompetent or they've got a plan to destroy our nation. But we're gonna open it up and open it up big. I suspect that's one of the reasons why Wyoming gave me such a tremendous vote. Frankly, all the energy states did. Actually, all of the states did cause our elections are a disaster; what they do with our elections."
Election results aside, former president Donald Trump is still as charismatic and controversial as ever, and Wyomingites will get the chance to see him on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center.
"I hear the crowd's gonna be great," Trump closed. "We're gonna have a big one. I have a lot of friends there. We're gonna have a big one. My son is gonna speak and I'll be going on a little bit later. I'll be landing and going right on time, a little bit later. And I hear the crowd is really big. I'm really looking forward to it. I love the state. It's just an incredible state, incredible place."