Video: All of Trump's in-person TV interviews in the past year have been with sycophants

Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

Ever since President Donald Trump’s disastrous interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on May 11 2017 -- in which he may have admitted to obstructing justice -- Trump has given in-person TV interviews to only friendly journalists who mostly avoid asking tough questions.

Over the past year, Trump has appeared on television for in-person interviews 14 times and only with fawning reporters. He has given 11 interviews to Fox News and Fox Business, one to Christian Broadcasting Network’s Pat Robertson, one to Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Mike Huckabee, one to CNBC’s Joe Kernen, and one to ITV’s Piers Morgan. Oftentimes, rather than posing hard-hitting questions, the journalists use their time with the president to compliment his performance, criticize the media, and hype his achievements:

In total, Trump has given 23 interviews to print, TV, and radio outlets since May 11, 2017 -- 17 of which were with reliably sympathetic hosts:

May 13, 2017: Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro

June 23, 2017: Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt

June 25, 2017: Fox News’ Pete Hegseth

July 12, 2017: Reuters’ Steve Holland

July 13, 2017: Christian Broadcasting Networks’ Pat Robertson

July 19, 2017: The New York Times’ Peter Baker, Michael Schmidt, and Maggie Haberman

July 25, 2017: The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker, Peter Nicholas, and Michael Bender

September 28, 2017: Fox News’ Pete Hegseth

October 3, 2017: Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera

October 7, 2017: Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Mike Huckabee

October 11, 2017: Fox News’ Sean Hannity

October 17, 2017: SiriusXM’s David Webb

October 17, 2017: Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade

October 22, 2017: Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo

October 25, 2017: Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs

November 2, 2017: Fox News’ Laura Ingraham

December 28, 2017: The New York Times’ Michael Schmidt

January 11, 2018: The Wall Street Journal’s Rebecca Ballhaus, Michael Bender, Peter Nicholas and Louise Radnofsky

January 17, 2018: Reuters’ Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton, and Jeff Mason

January 26, 2018: CNBC’s Joe Kernen

January 28, 2018: ITV’s Piers Morgan

February 24, 2018: Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro

April 26, 2018: Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade, and Steve Doocy