President Donald Trump replayed clips of Senate hearings for reporters in order to mock the testimony of former top administration officials, according to an interview published Thursday.
Trump on Monday during an interview with Time reacted to testimony earlier the same day by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
“Watch them start to choke like dogs,” Trump said, as quoted by Time. “Watch what happens. They are desperate for breath.”
When Clapper hesitated, according to the report, Trump said: “Ah, he’s choking. Ah, look.”
According to Time, Trump’s recordings of the Senate hearing were saved among recordings of cable news shows, which are the President’s preferred means of consuming news and have informed both his public statements and his hiring choices.
“Yes. He was choking on that,” Trump said, responding to another of Clapper’s statements before the President fast-forwarded ahead through the hearing. “This is one of the great inventions of all time—TiVo.”
