During her journalistic career, Victoria Derbyshire has carried out countless interviews with some of the biggest and most powerful people in politics – but she has probably never had an interview like this before.
On Newsnight this week, Katie Zacharia – the woman who lasted just five days as the White House press secretary last month – appeared on the programme to discuss the US midterms and Donald Trump.
What followed was complete chaos.
Zacharia claims midterms weren’t a defeat for Trump
In a performance of denialism that her beloved Trump would be proud of, Zacharia laughably tried to argue that the Republicans’ midterm battering was “not even a setback” for the US president.
Despite the fact Democrats gained control of both Chambers of Congress and claimed historic wins in deep-red states such as Texas and Kansas, Zacharia told Derbyshire: ““This is not even a setback for President Trump.
“I love that all of his interviews have the veto hat next to him and that he’s showing and been outspoken about being the president with the biggest power in Washington now, which is the power of the veto.”
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When the Newsnight presenter asked who Trump would cope with “being a loser”, Zacharia claimed he was “absolutely not a loser.”
What followed was Derbyshire repeatedly reminding the former White House press secretary that Trump and in fact lost heavily at the midterms – and Zacharia denying it.
Zacharia baffling claimed that the American people had NOT rejected Trump at the midterms and that the results in fact “gave a very clear runway for a Republican president in 2028.”
Zacharia meltdown leaves Derbyshire stunned
At another point in the interview, Zacharia had a complete meltdown over the senate race in Alaska, where the Republicans look set to suffer another defeat.
Zacharia repeatedly spoke over Derbyshire, who appeared to be doing her best not to laugh at the American’s insanity.