Trump’s attack on the media was made during a one-on-one interview with talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw, known as Dr. Phil, during which they discussed a comment Trump made telling Christians, “You don’t have to vote anymore” in four years. The former president said he was encouraging Christians to support him in this election due to how consequential it will be, and he claimed Christians “for whatever reason don’t vote very much.” 

“In other words, I’m saying you don’t have to vote,” Trump said. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to have elections. You’re going to have elections, but you have to vote this time because we have to win.”

The former president also discussed a comment he made last year when he said he would be a dictator “for one day” with his plans to drill for gasoline and secure the southern border. He noted how many media outlets leave out his “for one day” comment, which he had said as a joke. 

“So I said it nicely, and I said ‘one day,’ because I want to do the energy, and I want to strengthen the border, one day,” Trump said. “And it was said with a chuckle, the audience laughed, I laughed, we all laughed. But they take it, and they cut it, and then they cut it, and it says, ‘I want to be a dictator.’ These are very dishonest people that we’re dealing with. Very dishonest people, bad people.”

Dr. Phil clarified if Trump was saying the press was taking his words out of context, which prompted the former president to respond, “Well, all you have to do is watch it.”

The full interview between the two is scheduled to be released on Merit+ as well as X on Tuesday night.

In addition to interviewing Trump, Dr. Phil also conducted an interview with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which will be released Wednesday evening. One of the topics discussed between the two will be Kennedy’s recent endorsement of Trump.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump announced that he reached an agreement to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News on Sept. 10, which ended speculation about him backing out. The former president also said he is still open to debating Harris in a Sept. 4 debate hosted by Fox News.