MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle praised President-elect Donald Trump this week for being far more accessible to journalists than his Democrat counterpart, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ruhle is an adherent defender of Harris, and made waves when she gave a softball interview to the VP during the election and later defended Harris for her non-answers.
“I rolled the dice and I called him on the phone,” Ruhle said about reaching out to Trump after his Madison Square Garden rally. “And he answered!”
The MSNBC anchor told “So Many Issues” host Lukas Thimm that she asked Trump for an interview on the call. Trump told her no, and Ruhle joked that he told her, go f*** yourself, but emphasized that she was at least able to get through to Trump.
Harris and President Joe Biden, on the other hand, have dozens of handlers between them before you can even get in some sort of contact, Ruhle explained.
“I wasn’t calling to chit-chat,” Ruhle continued.
“I called for one reason, I said, ‘You just said a whole bunch of public things. I’d like to sit down for an interview with you. We’ve got five days before the election.’ … I said, ‘I want an interview.’ Obviously, he said no.”
“But my point is, I was able to get to him by dialing his phone,” she continued. “Now, that might be completely apes***, and you’re like, ‘I can’t believe people know this guy’s phone number’ — but the reverse of that, if I were to want to connect with VP Harris or President Biden, there’s 50 people between me and them.”
“I could write a note that maybe could get to somebody, to get somebody, then through Phony Express and a pigeon, something might end up in a mailbox near them,” she joked. “And I called DJT to say, ‘Yo, can I get an interview?’ And he told me to go f*** myself, but I still was able to connect with him.”
Watch:
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle describes Donald Trump as approachable, in contrast to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris:
Stephanie Ruhle: “The day after, after Donald Trump had that crazy rally at Madison Square Garden. I rolled the dice and I called him on the phone and he answered.
It was… pic.twitter.com/6FrLpTqWTV— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 17, 2024
Reiterating the point, Thimm posted the clip of Ruhle on social media and stressed that “politicians need to adapt” to the changing landscape.
“One such way is providing easier access so people can hear from them directly,” he wrote. “Stephanie Ruhle and other journalists have a direct line to the president-elect, and as Stephanie says in jest, their conversation didn’t last long but still shows how she was able to connect with him.”
