ABC News host Jonathan Karl spoke to “The View” on Tuesday about his new book and detailed a phone call he had with President Donald Trump, telling the co-hosts the president “wanted to hear” him acknowledge his victory.
“I call Donald Trump, I mean there is no way he’s going to pick up, but I figured I would just leave him a message, ‘After all this, congratulations, you won. You know, you won.’ And he picks up,” Karl said, explaining that he called Trump early in the morning the day after he won, not thinking the president would answer.
“And I said, Mr. President-elect, I just want to say congratulations,” Karl added, as he imitated Trump, who, he said, responded, “On what, Jonathan? On what?”
Karl said Trump wanted to hear him acknowledge his victory and compared it to a scene in “Breaking Bad.”
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“So I said, ‘on the greatest comeback victory in the history of politics.’ But he wanted to hear me say the words,” he told the hosts.
Karl joined the co-hosts to discuss his new book, “Retribution,” about the 2024 campaign and Trump’s political comeback.
Co-host Joy Behar said Karl had a strange relationship with the president, and called the conversation “weird.”
Behar and Hostin pointed out that Trump had publicly attacked Karl during interviews with the journalist.
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“I’ve covered a lot of presidential campaigns, I’ve covered several presidents. There’s none, ever, that I have ever been able to call up on the phone. I mean, you always go through, they’ve got people, I mean, it’s like all of that. It was easier to get Donald Trump on the phone than to get the deputy press secretary for the Kamala Harris campaign on the phone,” Karl said.
When Behar asked why, Karl said it was because Trump loved “engagement.”
“He got angry at me a couple times over the phone, he’s gotten angry with me in private. Mostly in private, it’s very positive and very complimentary,” Karl said. “During the campaign, I have questions for him, and he has questions for me. ‘What are you hearing? What’s going on? How is it looking?'”
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Trump recently sparred with Karl after the ABC host asked him a question in September.
Karl asked the president, “What do you make of Pam Bondi saying she’s going to go after hate speech? Is that, I mean, a lot of people, a lot of your allies, say hate speech is free speech.”
“She’ll probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly,” Trump replied, speaking over Karl as he asked if that would be appropriate. “You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they will come after ABC. ABC paid me $16 million recently for a form of hate speech. Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, so maybe they will have to go after you.”
Fox News’ Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.
