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Trump said in 2014 riots would fix economic crash and return country to ‘when we were great’

Ex-TV host told Fox News that Vladimir Putin was 'nice' and Americans needed 'riots' to restore greatness 

Gino Spocchia
Tuesday 02 June 2020 09:11 EDT
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Trump said in 2014 that riots and would make America great

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In damning comments made on television in 2014, Donald Trump told Fox News that “total hell” would make America “great” again.

The then TV host made an appearance on Fox & Friends in February 2014 to condemn Obamacare and Americans who were not in work, whilst backing Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“You know what solves it? When the economy crashes, when the economy goes to total hell and everything is a disaster,” Mr Trump said in 2014.

“Then you’ll have, you know, you’ll have riots to go back to where we were when we were great”.

Mr Trump’s comments in 2014 provide condemning evidence that, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest in cities across the US, Mr Trump believes that chaos would restore the American dream.

“An American dream where you don’t have to do anything,” complained Mr Trump about Obamacare in 2014, after Republicans claimed it encouraged Americans not to work.

Despite the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, providing many Americans with health coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Trump still maintains that it should be overturned.

Mr Trump also commented on Russia during the same 2014 interview, and appeared to provide an early hint at his intention to run for president in 2016.

The now-US president told Fox News that Americans should give Russia a pass because "We're going to win something important later on and they won't be opposed to what we're doing."

After he said that Russia was “outsmarting” the US, Mr Trump added Mr Putin was not happy about bad press coverage.

“I know for a fact he’s [Putin] not happy about it. When I went to Russia with the Miss Universe pageant he contacted me and was so nice, you know I mean the Russian people were so fantastic to us”.

He added: “Their leaders, whether you call them smarter or whatever”.

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