Former President Donald Trump has admitted he regrets several social media posts in which he made a graphic sexual insult about Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Republican candidate was criticized last week for sharing a post suggesting his opponent was only successful because of a “blowjob.”
He was then asked point-blank on Tuesday’s Lex Fridman podcast whether he is “intentionally provocative” on his Truth Social platform, and whether there are “moments when you regret some of the truths you’ve posted.”
“Yes, I do,” Trump replied. “But honestly, not that often.”
He admitted that he sometimes “got into trouble” for what he shared about others, “because deep down you discover that they belong to a group that you really shouldn’t share with.”
Former President Donald Trump admitted in a podcast Tuesday that he sometimes regrets his social media posts
Trump added: “You don’t even know if those groups are good, bad or indifferent. But the reposts are the ones that really get you in trouble.”
Trump continued: “If you use your own words, it’s a lot easier.”
Still, he said his platform has “worked out pretty well for him.”
“I’m telling you, truth is very powerful, truths, and it’s my platform and it’s powerful, very, very powerful. It goes everywhere,” he explained.
“I call it my typewriter, you know? That’s actually my typewriter.”
The discussion comes after much criticism was raised over a post he re-shared on his platform, which features Vice President Kamala Harris next to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Funny how blowjobs affected both of their careers in different ways,” an X user wrote in the post Trump shared.
The interview came after Trump faced criticism for re-sharing a post about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, showing her with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The comment in the post is a dig at the vice president’s 1990s relationship with Willie Brown, who later became mayor of San Francisco. The two are pictured here in 2005
The comment is said to be a dig at the vice president’s relationship in the 1990s with Willie Brown, who later became mayor of San Francisco.
Right-wing politicians have since viewed the relationship as a sexual favor that enabled Harris to become a deputy district attorney and eventually district attorney for Alameda County.
Harris has disputed these claims, arguing that she was qualified for all of the positions she has held.
The report also appears to reference former President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.
When a screenshot of Trump reposting the photo circulated on social media last week, many liberals reacted strongly to the former president.
“This should be a headline in every major news outlet,” wrote Cyndi Borowski on X. “The American people deserve to see this.”
Funny how a convicted rapist like [Trump] has the audacity to post this,’ added Brett Goodkin.
Many liberals lashed out at the former president after a screenshot showing Trump reposting the image circulated on social media last week
Others argued that the post — which emerged just over a week after Trump shared a video parody of Alanis Morissette’s song “Ironic” in which he mocked Harris — proves the former president is afraid of Harris’ momentum.
“This is Donald Trump’s tactic, especially when he gets defensive and feels like he’s not leading the conversation,” said Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List, a left-wing organization that supports female candidates who support abortion rights.
“He uses these really crude, really sexist, often racist and sexually charged attacks,” she said explained to the Huffington Post.
‘It does two things: it plays on his supporters and angers them, and secondly, it tries to create chaos around him, while he can go anywhere.
“The more we see this movement from the Harris campaign, the more enthusiasm we see, the more he’s being pushed to those lows.”
The former president shared the post about Harris amid a flurry of other reposts on Truth Social on Wednesday morning
In fact, Harris’s post appeared amid a flurry of reposts from Trump on Truth Social on Wednesday morning.
Other images he shared included a photo of the House committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021, with the caption: ‘Indict the Unselect J6 Committee [for] sedition.
“The truth is true, if you want to lock them up,” it said.
In another photo, Trump sat next to former President Barack Obama.
“All roads lead to Obama,” the message read. “The truth if you want public tribunals.”
A fourth repost showed President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates and Harris in prison garb saying, “How we can actually fix the system.”
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance defended the reports in an interview with CNN
Trump supporters have also said they see no problem with what he has posted
But both Trump’s campaign and his ardent supporters have defended his messages.
In a interview with CNN last weekVice presidential candidate J.D. Vance said his running mate is “a political candidate who is not stuffy, who likes to have fun and tells jokes.
“I would much rather have a candidate who is willing to do any interview and who is willing to tell some jokes,” he said. “I think you lift people up that way.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also hit out at the New York Times for its reporting about the former president reposting the Harris and Clinton meme.
She said Trump “rightly questions her ability to serve as commander in chief.”
And on X, Trump supporters said they saw no problem with Trump’s reposts.
“What’s your problem?” one X user wrote in response to a Washington Post reporter who shared screenshots of Trump’s reposts.
“Seems to be true, there was no lying,” he said.
“It’s true,” another added. “And you idiots can’t stop it from being revealed.”