Five insights from Trump's interview on the Lex Fridman podcast

The podcast interview, which aired Tuesday afternoon, is the former president's latest on this type of platform, as he seeks to convey his message to casual voters, independents and young male voters ahead of the 2024 election.

Fridman spent much of the interview pointing to the former president's symbolic harshness and allegations of 2020 election fraud as reasons why many voters might be deterred from another Trump term. Trump, in turn, insisted that he was the only way to keep the country from becoming a “communist” country.

1. Trump argues that a Harris presidency would plunge the US into communism

Trump was responding to recent claims by him and Republicans that Harris is a communist and would put the United States on the path to becoming a socialist country.

“If we don't win this election, the election on November 5th is the most important election this country has ever had,” Trump told Fridman. “Because if we don't win it, I don't think there will be another election, and it will become a communist country, or almost.”

Fridman said many people, including himself, did not consider Harris a communist.

“Well, she’s a Marxist,” Trump interjected.

He agreed with Fridman that several people call him a “fascist.”

“Yes, they do, so I think it's OK to call them communists,” the former president said. “Yes, they call me much worse than I call them … I think you have to fight fire with fire. I think they're bad people. They're very bad people.”

“We have an enemy without and an enemy within,” Trump continued. “And in my opinion the enemies within are radical left-wing lunatics. And I think we have to fight back.”

Fridman had previously asked Trump if he could name something he most respected about left-leaning individuals, to which the former president replied: “I respect the fact that everyone belongs, and you know, to some extent, life is what you do while you're waiting to die. So you might as well do it well.”

2. Trump reaffirms his support for marijuana

Trump reiterated his support for medical marijuana on Tuesday, making the latest move in his endorsement of the drug ahead of a vote in Florida that could legalize marijuana for recreational use.

“First of all, medical marijuana was incredible,” Trump said. “I had friends, others and doctors tell me it was absolutely incredible. We made a statement that we can live with marijuana. It has to be a certain age, you have to be a certain age to buy it, it has to be done in a very concerted, legal way.”

“And I think the way they're doing it in Florida is going to be really good,” Trump added.

The Florida bill in question, Amendment 3, is set to be put to a vote in the 2024 election and needs 60% of the vote to pass. Trump said in a statement on August 31, “Whether the people like it or not, this is going to happen by voter approval, so it should be done right.”

The former president said marijuana should be banned in public spaces, but Florida residents should not be considered criminals for using the drug while it is legal in other states. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) oppose the ballot proposal.

At the national level, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's decision on whether to classify marijuana as a less dangerous drug won't come until after the general election in November. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2, and a decision could potentially come in the next administration, making marijuana a potentially key political issue for Harris and Trump in the final months before the race.

Trump said in the podcast that his campaign team would release further statements on the issue of marijuana next week.

3. Trump admits he lost by a whisker in 2020, but Democrats are now staging a “coup”

Fridman repeatedly pointed out to the former president on Tuesday that while the “middle American population” supports his policies and his past work as a businessman, they are not eager to vote for him in 2024 because he keeps claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Trump admitted defeat but called the election “fraud,” saying many people felt that way and demanded answers.

The former president will face Harris in their first presidential debate next week on Sept. 10. The vice president has been riding a political high thanks to the recent Democratic National Convention and record-breaking fundraising numbers in the weeks since President Joe Biden stepped down. Her recent interview with CNN's Dana Bash last week was praised by some and criticized by others, including Trump, as a “soft interview.”

Trump said he was preparing for the debate and believed he would do well, adding that he did not believe the presidential election would be close this year.

“I did well in the debates. I became president,” Trump said, referring to the 2016 presidential election. “Then the second time around, I got millions more votes than the first time. So I was told if I got 63 million, which I got the first time, I would win. You can't not win.”

“And I got millions more votes and lost by a narrow margin,” Trump said of the 2020 result.

Trump used the opportunity to call Biden the “worst president” in US history – as he usually does in interviews – but argued that it was not Biden's fault that he now has Harris as his opponent.

“He kind of checked out,” Trump said. “Hey, you can't blame him. This was a coup. They took it over. They took the presidential deal. The whole thing with the president was taken over by a coup. He had 14 million votes. She didn't have a vote. Not one. And nobody thought it would be her. Nobody wanted it to be her.”

“She was a joke until six weeks later, when they said we had to – politically – they felt like they had to pick her. And if they didn't pick her, they thought they were going to be a problem,” the former president continued.

4. Trump is open to releasing information about UFOs and Jeffrey Epstein’s client list

Trump said Tuesday he was willing to push the Pentagon to release UFO footage, a topic that has attracted growing interest after the Defense Department released declassified documents on the subject this year. Trump has also spoken about UFOs with other podcasters such as Logan Paul.

“Oh yes, sure, I would do that. I would love to do that. I have to do that,” Trump told Fridman.

The former president also said he was willing to release information about financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his clients who came to his island. Fridman said it was strange to many people that the list of his clients was not made public after his death in 2019.

“Yes, I would certainly look at it … I would be inclined to do the Epstein case – I would have no problem with that,” Trump said.

5. Trump eases up on dispute with Joe Rogan over RFK Jr.

Fridman asked Trump to discuss recent “tensions” between him and podcaster Joe Rogan, who featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his show. Joe Rogan experience. Rogan, a UFC commentator, had previously stated that he would vote for Kennedy if he made it onto the ballot, but refrained from endorsing him.

In early August, Trump expressed his dismay at Rogan's preference for Kennedy in a post on Truth Social: “It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets booed the next time he steps into the UFC ring??? MAGA2024.”

Fridman called Trump's Truth Social post about Rogan “a little unfair” and wants the former president to appear on Rogan's podcast. Trump admitted that he sometimes regrets his social media posts, but “not often.”

“I don't think there was any tension,” Trump argued regarding Rogan. “I think he's good at what he does, but I don't know if he should do his podcast.”

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Trump also praised Kennedy on Tuesday after Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump in Arizona.

“From what I understand, he's a pretty liberal guy, but he likes Kennedy — this was before I found out, before Kennedy came to us. He'll be great. Bobby will be great. But I like that he likes Kennedy. Me too. He's a different guy, but he's got some great things going on,” Trump said.