Roger Stone forgot he was wearing a microphone when he admitted how easy it was for him to manipulate Trump into saying whatever he thought he should say.
Stone said the he would just lie to Trump about something he’d said at a rally and then Trump would say he’s going to use that line again.
Watch:
The puppet master. Roger Stone reveals how he gets Trump to say anything- you just lie to him. (Exclusive video: The Daily Beast from “A Storm Foretold”) pic.twitter.com/14yy85E7AD
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 1, 2023
Here’s more from The Daily Beast who obtained the documentary footage:
In footage obtained by The Daily Beast, the Danish filmmakers who produced the film caught Stone explaining how he’s long manipulated Trump. And the filmmakers, Christoffer Guldbrandsen and Frederik Marbell, brutally contrast Stone’s disparaging remarks with those he delivered in October 2019 at a right-wing conference at Trump’s Doral golf club in Florida.
“I want to talk to you about Donald Trump,” Stone tells the crowd of MAGA-hat-wearing attendees. “Someone who is a force of nature in himself. Someone who marches to his own drummer. Someone who is not handled, not managed. Not controlled. A man who cannot be bossed. And cannot be bought, which has made him one of the greatest presidents since Abraham Lincoln.”
The film then cuts to Stone being recorded at a distance, with the Trump ally going in and out of the frame, while he tells another person the real truth about handling Trump.
“I have a 40-year record of being able to convince the big man to do what’s in his best interest. He’s not easy to deal with. It’s complicated,” Stone said. “He resents any implication that he is handled or managed or directed.”
Stone then details a hypothetical situation where he—serving as an adviser—might be able to plant an idea inside Trump’s head.
“You have to say, ‘Remember that night when we were in Buffalo. And you gave that speech, and God, it had to be 10,000 people, the biggest crowd they’d ever seen. And you said XYZ, and the place went crazy, remember that? I don’t know where you came up with that line, but it’s one of the best things.’”
Stone then theorized how Trump might respond to the lie.
“Yeah, I’m going to use that one again,” Stone said, playing the part of Trump.
The longtime Trump ally claimed he had used the tactic for decades.
“Doesn’t fucking matter that he never said it—doesn’t matter,” Stone said. “It’s time-consuming, but it works. I did it for 30 years.”
The filmmakers said that Stone totally forgot that he was wearing the mic when he said that: “I think he had forgotten that he was wearing a mic. I know he had forgotten, because the next morning, he was really, really anxious about what I had recorded.”
I can assure you that Trump isn’t going to like Stone saying this, partly because he didn’t even know Stone was doing it.
I’m sure Trump will find a way to play it off, but it just shows how easily Trump is manipulated if you stroke his ego. After four years of Trump being president, this isn’t really a secret. But I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Trump and Stone discuss this behind closed doors.