logo
Hollywood legend reveals Trump phoned him and accused him of 'wussing out' over 2020 stolen election claims

Hollywood legend reveals Trump phoned him and accused him of 'wussing out' over 2020 stolen election claims

Daily Mail​2 days ago

Playwright David Mamet revealed that President Donald Trump called him and complained that he 'wussed out' over those 2020 stolen election claims.
Mamet was the guest on this week's episode of comedian Bill Maher's Club Random podcast.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter and author - known for Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag the Dog and The Untouchables - ditched liberalism in 2008 and is a supporter of Trump.
Maher, a liberal who's taken swipes at the left for being too 'woke,' commented to Mamet that 'man, each book you get more right-wing,' and recalled how Mamet had come on his HBO show Real Time to publicize the last one.
The comedian said that at the time, he thought Mamet was 'hedging' on the so-called 'big lie,' Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
'You know, you don't know what happened to me the next morning,' Mamet said.
Mamet recalled that on Maher's show, he was 'kind of iffy on it, right?'
'Next morning, eight o'clock, the phone rings. Woman on the phone says, "Mr. Mamet, will you hold for the president?"' Mamet recalled. 'I said wait a second, is Biden calling?'
'Is Trump! During the Biden administration. He says, "David, it's Donald Trump." I say, "Oh, Mr. President, thank you for calling to what do I owe the honor?"' the author described.
'He said, "I saw you on Bill Maher yesterday, you were great." He said, "But you wussed out on the question of the stolen election,"' Mamet said. 'And then he talked to me for like 20 minutes about how the election was stolen.'
Maher interjected, 'It wasn't!'
But this time Mamet took Trump's side.
'Well, I think it was,' the playwright pushed.
Maher pointed out that 'they've adjudicated this.'
'They've looked at this. Republicans have looked at it,' Maher said. 'It was tested in court like 60 times. It was thrown out every time. Trump's own commission appointed by his own commissioners to look at the election ...They all said the same thing. It was the most fair, honest election we've ever had.'
Christopher Krebs, who served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, had called the 2020 election 'the most secure in American history.'
In April, Trump revoked Krebs' security clearance via a presidential memorandum and directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to review Krebs' activities during his time working in government.
'I'm not talking about the votes. I'm not talking about counting the votes,' Mamet pressed.
'That the Hunter Biden laptop was suppressed, the COVID information was suppressed. Zuckerberg said himself that the White House pressured him not to bring forward the information on the laptop,' Mamet argued.
'And Rasmussen said, had that come out, there would have been a 17 point spread,' the playwright added.
The New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story on October 14, 2020, just weeks before the presidential election.
The Biden campaign had officials in the intelligence community sign a letter saying that the information in the laptop being shopped by Trump allies had marks of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Since then the Daily Mail and other outlets have authenticated the laptop.
Maher wasn't buying Mamet's explanation.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What will Trump travel ban mean for sport?
What will Trump travel ban mean for sport?

BBC News

time31 minutes ago

  • BBC News

What will Trump travel ban mean for sport?

The United States is gearing up to host the world's two biggest sporting events in the next three years, the the 2026 Fifa World Cup and 2028 Olympic are events which ordinarily see a host nation attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the will a new travel ban issued by US President Donald Trump have an impact on the tournaments? And what about the ban's effect on the wider world of sport?The policy places full restrictions on citizens of 12 countries entering the United States, as well as partial constraints on seven others as part of an immigration crackdown he says is needed over security the order contains an exemption that could apply to participants in the 2026 Fifa World Cup and 2028 of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics say they have "great confidence" that the ban will not disrupt the summer Games or the preparations for after a meeting with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) co-ordination commission, LA28 chair and president Casey Wasserman said: "It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration, and I want to thank the federal government for recognising that."It's very clear that the federal government understands that's an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for."And so we have great confidence that that will only continue."BBC Sport takes a closer look at the ban and its potential impact. Which countries does the ban affect? Passport-holders from 12 nations are now outright banned from entering the United States. They are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and more countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - face significant but not full restrictions on four of the travel ban includes a clear exemption for sports stars travelling to those competitions - and other "major" sporting says "any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state" can still travel to the US."Two hundred and six countries are preparing to come to the Games," said Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC vice president who chairs the LA28 coordination commission."The federal government has given us that guarantee … to make sure that these participants will be able to enter the country… We are very confident that this is going to be accomplished."As well as the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, the USA will also co-host the Fifa World Cup in 2026, alongside Canada and Mexico. What key detail has been left out of the announcement for athletes? The text means that those participating in the two major global sports events the US will host during Trump's second term will still be able to travel. But the lack of detail around other sporting events throws open a series of important, and as yet unanswered, State Department has offered no further clarification or measurement criteria for what Secretary of State Marco Rubio will or will not consider a "major sporting event"."I think people from around the world, and Americans going to these events, would want to see actions like this," said US state department spokesperson Tommy Pigott at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon."This is part of what it means to host an event. We take security concerns extremely seriously, we want people to be able to go to the World Cup and do so safely."The Concacaf Gold Cup, for example, begins in the USA on 15 June and Haiti are due to participate. But given the travel ban does not list the Gold Cup (which features North America, Central America and Caribbean nations) as among the exempted major events, their participation is now in phrasing 'World Cup' is also unclear. The revamped Fifa Club World Cup, featuring 32 of the world's best club teams, will take place in the USA from 14 June to 13 July. 10 players from countries under travel restriction are on the books of the competing clubs, but whether the tournament is included in the exemption or not has not yet been track and field athletes often travel to the USA to participate in training camps in preparation for major meets. Though the exemptions make clear that athletes from the affected countries can travel to the Olympics in 2028, it makes no mention of their ability to attend camps in the time before BBC has contacted the US State department for a response. Are fans exempt from the travel ban? Fans from the restricted countries have not been given an exemption for major sports for example, have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, while the likes of Haiti, Sudan and Venezuela also stand a chance of have already been concerns over the length of time the citizens of some countries were being made to wait for US travel visas to be processed and granted. And now fans of all of those teams will be unable to travel to the tournament, as things stand. It could be argued that the restriction means those teams will suffer a competitive disadvantage, given their rivals will be able to draw on support from the asked if he was worried that ticket sales for the LA Games could be affected, Wasserman said "no". What about athletes from barred countries who play in the USA? The proclamation does not make clear what will happen to athletes who are citizens of barred countries but currently work in the NBA, MLB and MLS all feature players who are citizens of countries now placed on the travel ban list – how those players can continue to play in the USA is football, for example, nine Venezuelans are currently on the books of clubs in Major League Soccer. Three of them – Ronald Hernandez of Philadelphia Union, David Martinez of Los Angeles FC, Josef Martinez of San Jose Earthquakes – are due to take part in international fixtures abroad over the next the time they return to the USA, travel restrictions on Venezuelans will be in place. It is not clear whether the three, and other athletes employed by US teams across all sports, will be allowed to return after travelling abroad to compete or visit BBC has contacted the NBA, MLB and MLS. Has Trump banned athletes before? During his first term in office, Trump enacted a sweeping travel ban on some countries, most of which had majority Muslim populations. At the time, the MLS Players Union said it was "deepy concerned" about members that may be impacted and that it was "extremely disappointed".Trump's anti-immigration policies have also prevented some athletes from other nations taking part in scheduled events held in the 2017 the Tibetan women's soccer team were denied US visas to attend the Dallas Cup in Texas. In 2019 nine players from the Guatemalan Under-15 national soccer team were denied entry to participate in the Under-15 Concacaf Championship, and Cuba captain Yordan Santa Cruz was denied a visa for the 2019 Gold 2017 football's world governing body Fifa warned Trump that travel bans could hinder the USA's joint bid for the 2026 World Cup. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: "It's obvious when it comes to Fifa competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. The requirements will be clear."That ban was eventually overturned by Trump's successor Joe Biden in April there were concerns that Duke University basketball star Khaman Maluach could face possible deportation after the US revoked all visas of South Sudanese passport-holders and he was advised to not leave the country in case he could not re-enter. Does the travel ban break Fifa rules? In the years since that climbdown, Infantino appears to have been keen to cosy up to Fifa president attended Trump's inauguration in January and was seen applauding and laughing during the Republican's speech alongside tech billionaires including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff speech - given by Trump after he was sworn in for his second term as president – included negative comments about neighbouring Canada and Mexico, the USA's World Cup the week of the inauguration, Infantino made a series of glowing social media posts about Trump, including writing "Donald Trump and I share a great friendship" in an Instagram caption. In total, Infantino posted about Trump nine times in less than a then accompanied Trump on the latter's state visit to Saudi Arabia, before drawing the ire of Uefa and other continental bodies by delaying the start of the Fifa congress in Paraguay in order to hold a private meeting with BBC has put questions about the travel ban to Fifa and the IOC.

Elon Musk signals he may back down in public row with Donald Trump
Elon Musk signals he may back down in public row with Donald Trump

The Guardian

time35 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Elon Musk signals he may back down in public row with Donald Trump

Elon Musk has suggested he may de-escalate his public row with Donald Trump after their spectacular falling out. The Tesla chief executive signalled he might back down on a pledge to decommission the Dragon spacecraft – made by his SpaceX business – in an exchange on his X social media platform. He also responded positively to a call from fellow multibillionaire Bill Ackman to 'make peace' with the US president. Politico also reported overnight that the White House has scheduled a call with Musk on Friday to broker a peace deal after both men traded verbal blows on Thursday. The rolling spat – which played out over social media and in a Trump White House appearance – included the president saying he was 'very disappointed in Elon' over Musk's criticism of his tax and spending bill. Musk also said the president's trade policies would cause a recession and raised Trump's connections to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk had responded to a Trump threat to cancel his US government contracts on Thursday with a post on X stating he would retire his Dragon spacecraft, which is used by Nasa. However, responding to an X user's post urging both sides to 'cool off', Musk wrote: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.' Musk also appeared to proffer an olive branch in a reply to a post from the hedge fund owner Ackman, who called on Trump and Musk to 'make peace for the benefit of our great country'. Musk replied: 'You're not wrong.' Politico also reported a potential peace call between Musk and the White House, claiming Trump's aides had worked to persuade the president to tone down his public criticism of the Tesla owner before arranging the phone conversation for Friday. After a brief interview with Trump about Thursday's Musk implosion, Politico reported that the president displayed 'an air of nonchalance' about the spat. 'Oh it's OK' Trump said, when asked about the dispute. 'It's going very well, never done better.' Referring to his favourability ratings, Trump added: 'The numbers are through the roof, the highest polls I've ever had and I have to go.' Politico reported that Trump's aides had urged the president to focus on getting his tax and spending bill through the Senate instead of clashing with Musk, with one of his Truth Social posts reflecting a less confrontational tone. 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,' he wrote on his Truth Social platform, before adding that the tax cut legislation was one of the 'Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store