NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: In a recent episode of NBC's 'Today' show, the morning family hosted an exclusive interview with John Lauro, a former lawyer for President Donald Trump, who addressed Trump's recent indictment on live television. However, during the interview, viewers noticed that Savannah Guthrie exhibited her usual behavior of "talking over" her guests, and this didn't sit well with fans.
On August 1, Donald Trump faced indictment on multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud America and attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden. While the indictment represents a significant moment in the history of the United States, it marks the first instance where a former president faces criminal charges for attempting to undermine the core principles of democracy, particularly a free and fair election. Announcing the episode along with a clip, 'Today' tweeted, "“Is it justice to force a former President of the United States to trial in 90 days when you’ve had to 3 years to investigate?,” John Lauro, one of former President Trump’s attorney’s, tells @SavannahGuthrie about the possible timing of the trial."
Savannah Guthrie’s exclusive interview with John Lauro
Following ‘Today’ journalist Savannah Guthrie’s recent interview with John Lauro, fans have taken to social media to express their disappointment with Guthrie’s “rudeness.” During the interview on Wednesday, August 2, Lauro expressed his confidence that Trump will win at trial as he said, “Absolutely, we’re going to win”. When Guthrie asked Lauro if Trump would be ready for a trial which is about 70 days away, Lauro responded, “We're entitled to understand what the charges are. We're entitled to do our own investigation. To take President Trump to trial in 90 days, of course, is absurd.” He continued, “The question is, why do they want to do that? If you want to seek justice, then you need to offer President Trump an opportunity to get a hold of all the evidence and understand what the facts are.”
Lauro also claimed that counsel Jack Smith's team has been given over three years to investigate Trump, and he argued that the defense should be afforded an equal amount of time to get ready for the trial. He said, “He had three and a half years. Why don't we make it equal? The bottom line is that they have 60 federal agents working on this. Sixty lawyers, all kinds of government personnel, and we get this indictment and they want to go to trial in 90 days. Does that sound like justice to you?” He then went on to question the absurdness of the trial adding, “Is it justice to force a former president of the United States to trial in 90 days when you've had three years?” When questioned about his preference for resolving the case before the election, Lauro expressed his desire to have access to all the evidence before making any decisions. He exclaimed, “This is the first time that the First Amendment has been criminalized. It's the first time that a sitting president is attacking a political opponent on First Amendment grounds and basically making it criminal to state your position and to engage in political activity.” However, Guthrie talked over him, stating, “This indictment is criminalizing conduct, not speech.” She continued, “Jack Smith saw this very argument coming. It says he is being indicted for conduct using unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”
Lauro asserted that Trump, similar to a member of Congress using a filibuster to oppose a law, had the right to take action in the political sphere. Guthrie responded, “There's nothing wrong with a filibuster, there is something wrong with sending fake electors, trying to go beyond and around the law.” Lauro stated that Trump had received an opinion from an attorney, affirming the legality of his request to then-Vice President Mike Pence to utilize fake electors in certain battleground states to alter election results was “completely lawful.” On the other hand, Guthrie pointed out that Trump had also received multiple opinions from his own White House counsel stating that such actions were not legal. In response, Lauro said, “You're entitled to believe and trust the advice of counsel. You have one of the leading constitutional scholars in the United States, John Eastman, say to President Trump, 'This is a protocol that you can follow. It's legal.' That eliminates criminal intent.”
The interview concluded with Lauro strongly emphasizing his belief that Smith's office is pursuing a trial to prevent Trump from engaging in debates and discussing issues in the 2024 elections. He expressed concern about the justice in this approach as he said, “Right now they want to go to trial so that instead of debating the issues against Joe Biden, President Trump is sitting in a courtroom. How is that justice? The American people want to talk about the issues, what they don't want to do is re-litigate the 2020 election.”
‘How she ever got this job is a mystery’
After the interview went online, many ‘Today’ viewers felt that Guthrie repeatedly talked over Lauro, hindering a more comprehensive exploration of the issues at hand. Many fans criticized Guthrie as one fan wrote, “Savanna should not have done this interview. She talked over him the entire time. I don’t like him but that was just two people talking over each other. I have a headache now,” while another added, “Savannah seem rude, the interview was uncomfortable even to the viewers- feel sorry for the guest….”. One more fan wrote, “Savannah is terrible. She always talks over anyone she interviews that she doesn't agree with. Rude...” and another questioned her professionalism, “Don't even bother trying to speak with Savannah..How she ever got this job is a mystery..”
One Twitter user wrote, “She’s so rude! Talking over her guest and letting her personal feelings overrule. Do better Savannah,” and another added, “Savannah Guthrie is the WORST interviewer! All she does is argue with everyone she interviews, never giving them a chance to answer the question. She should remember that she is no longer a lawyer and the person isn’t on the stand.”
