Television interviews with presidents have been a staple since the TV was invented. They offer America a way to get to know these powerful politicians on a more powerful level. And because presidents are very experienced at using the media to shape messages and cultivate their image, these interviews are a great way to boost their ratings and even gain a few extra voters for re-election campaigns.
At least, that’s how all of this works in theory. But presidents are only human, and some of their interviews go sideways. These moments can be fascinating because these leaders drop their carefully constructed masks and reveal the humanity underneath. But they can also be a little scary when the weirdest moments reveal that the most powerful people in the world are power-hungry, short-sighted, and way too angry.
Just what kind of interviews are we talking about? Keep reading to discover the presidential television interviews that went completely off the rails!
Richard Nixon’s most chilling statement
Despite the more recent antics of figures like Donald Trump, Richard M. Nixon still holds the dubious honor of being the world’s most controversial United States president. He got busted sending burglars to the Watergate Hotel to score info about his political opponents. When this information went public, Congress began preparing to impeach the president, an action that Nixon effectively sidestepped by resigning.
A few years later, he sat down for an interview with David Frost. This Frost/Nixon interview had several surprising moments in it, but none was wilder than Nixon’s defense of what he had done. “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” he said.
For decades, this statement served as the ultimate symbol of presidential tyranny and authoritarian overreach. Weirdly enough, though, the Supreme Court’s 2024 expansion of presidential immunity seemingly validates Nixon’s claims. In fact, had Watergate happened today, Nixon would most likely have not faced any consequences, legal or otherwise.
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Bill Clinton gets feisty about 9/11
We mostly associate 9/11 with George W. Bush…after all, the attack happened on his watch, and the subsequent “war on terror” quickly became the defining element of his entire presidency. However, many thought that Bill Clinton might be to blame, as he was president for two terms leading up to Osama bin Laden’s unprecedented attack against America.
This included Fox News host Chris Wallace when he grilled Clinton over why he hadn’t had Osama bin Laden killed during a 2006 interview. A feisty Clinton responded “”All the conservative Republicans who now say I didn’t do enough claimed that I was too obsessed with bin Laden.” They frequently interrupted one another, and an angry Clinton eventually summed up his feelings in the bluntest possible way: “You did Fox’s bidding on this show,” he said. “You did your nice little conservative hit job on me.”
George W. Bush’s visceral reaction to Kanye West’s insult
One of the more surreal moments during George W. Bush’s second term as president was when Kanye West called him out on live television. During a 2005 telethon to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims, the singer said “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people,” leaving the world (not to mention cohost Mike Myers) stunned.
In a 2010 interview, Bush said, “I didn’t appreciate it then, and I don’t appreciate it now…I resent it. It’s not true. And it was one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency.” When reporter Matt Lauer asked, the former president confirmed that he once told his wife that Kante’s comment was the worst moment of his presidency. Lauer noted Bush could get backlash for saying this, to which Bush responded “Don’t care.”
This might not seem so crazy on the surface…after all, nobody would enjoy being blamed for a major disaster on national television in what immediately became a viral clip. But considering that Bush was president during 9/11, it’s insane that a Kanye callout was actually the worst moment of his presidency!
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Donald Trump’s weirdest interview (and that’s saying something)
Let’s be real: Donald Trump was always destined to appear on our list of weird presidential interviews. Honestly, he could have been the whole list! But we sifted through his various bonkers TV appearances to find what is, without a doubt, the weirdest interview the man ever gave (so far, at least).
Near the end of 2020, Trump sat down for an interview with Axios reporter Jonathan Swan to discuss how his administration had handled everything from the Black Lives Matter protests to the COVID-19 pandemic. But about COVID, Trump began speaking gibberish about why infection rates were so high: “There are those that say you can test too much. You do know that?” he said. When the reporter asked what he was even talking about, Trump blurted out “Just read the manuals. Read the books.”
It got so bad that when Trump was asked about all the Americans who had died, he responded, “It is what it is.” The high point (or maybe that should be the low point) of the interview is when Trump handed Swan a weird chart and began insisting “United States is lowest in numerous categories. We’re lower than the world.” The reporter’s face of utter confusion went viral, effectively summing up the strangest of all Trump interviews.