Donald Trump says he has a message for the thousands of people who are protesting in the streets since he won the Electoral College count, though not the popular vote on Election Night, and others who say they are afraid of a Trump presidency:
“Don’t be afraid. We are going to bring our country back. But certainly, don’t be afraid,” he told Lesley Stahl on tonight’s 60 Minutes interview. “You know, we just had an election and sort of like you have to be given a little time. I mean, people are protesting. If Hillary had won and if my people went out and protested, everybody would say, ‘Oh, that’s a terrible thing.’ And it would have been a much different attitude. There is a different attitude. You know, there is a double standard here.
He said he would “rather not comment” when questioned as to whether he would ask for FBI director James Comey’s resignation. Hillary Clinton has said Comey’s two letters to Congress about emails found on Anthony Weiner’s computer cost her the White House.
“I haven’t made up my mind. I respect him a lot. I respect the F.B.I. a lot. I think —
“Even though they leak so much?” she asked.
“There’s been a lot of leaking, there’s no question about that. But I would certainly like to talk to him. And– see him. This is a tough time for him. And I would like to talk to him before I’d answer a question like that.”
Trump waffled when asked whether he’d like to do away with the Electoral College system of picking a president. Before Election Day, Trump refused to say if he would accept the results and repeatedly called it a “rigged” election. Since Election Day, those who favored Clinton have called for doing away with the Electoral College.
“I’m not going to change my mind just because I won. But I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. you know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win.”
But, he continued, “There’s a reason for doing this because it brings all the states into play..and there’s something very good about that. But this is a different system. But I respect it. I do respect the system.”
Trump promised to move quickly to name a new Supreme Court justice who was “pro-life” but declined to go so far as to say they would overturn Roe v. Wade, sticking to “having to do with abortion– if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the States. So it would go back to the States,” adding that “[women will] perhaps have to go, they’ll have to go to another state.”
But, in trying to calm fears that his Supreme Court would toss last year’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Trump argued, “it’s done,” adding “these cases have gone to the Supreme Court, they’ve been decided. And I’m fine with that,” adding that his views on the subject are “irrelevant.”
When Trump did the interview, late last week, he said had not heard about some of the acts of violence being perpetrated in his name, or against his supporters. Nor, he said, had he heard about reports of racial slurs and personal threats against African Americans, Latinos and gay people by some of his supporters.
“I’m very surprised to hear that. I hate to hear that,” he said. Asked if he wanted to say anything to “those people,” Trump responded, “I would say don’t do it, that’s terrible, because I’m going to bring this country together.”
“If it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it.”
