In Deposition, Donald Trump Says Illegal Immigration Led to Nomination
The New York Times reports on the release of a videotaped deposition of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump in a piece of civil litigation. A Washington judge made public the videotaped deposition. The video shows Mr. Trump answered questions in his suit against Geoffrey Zakarian, a celebrity chef who backed out of Mr. Trump’s new hotel development at the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington. Trump is also suing another chef, José Andrés, who backed out of another restaurant. The chefs pulled out after Trump made incendiary comments last year about Mexican immigrants as he announced his presidential campaign. Trump said — “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” He is suing the companies associated with Zakarian and Mr. Andrés for breach of contract.
In the deposition, Mr. Trump sat for about 100 minutes, often with his arms folded and sometimes swaying in his chair. He answered questions about the contracts with the chefs and about his remarks on Mexicans, telling Zakarian’s lawyer that he had been misinterpreted by the news media, which he called “very dishonest.” In the course of the deposition, He explained that his raising the topic of illegal immigration “led to my nomination in a major party in the country.”
I watched part of the deposition Trump. In what I saw, he appeared calm and cordial and not much like his campaign persona.
KJ