Howard Stern said he never confirmed that Donald Trump lied about supporting the war in Iraq.
(Photo: Getty Images)
After CNN published the headline “Howard Stern Says Trump Backed Iraq War In 2002” last week, the radio shock jock said he doesn’t know “how CNN came up with that headline” during Monday’s episode of “The Howard Stern Show.”
Howard Stern: I got so upset because, you know, let’s face it, tapes from our show featuring Donald Trump have been used in the campaign. And the other day, I was talking to Robin on the air, and I said to her, yeah, you know it was really surreal sorta laying there in bed and watching them mention my name on the debate. And I said, basically for people who might not be aware, I said, yeah, Trump was on our show, and he was talking — I asked him about the Iraq war, and he said that he was for it.
Robin Quivers: ‘Well, I guess you have to be,’ or something like that. It wasn’t like an enthusiastic…
Stern: So, then there was a big screaming headline on CNN — ‘Howard Stern Now Confirms.’ There’s a picture of me and Trump in an adversarial-type situation that…
Quivers: You didn’t confirm anything!
Sterns: Yeah, that ‘Howard Stern now says that Trump is lying about…’
*Groans in studio*
Stern: Yeah! This was on CNN. Big headline and they brought people in. They were having a discussion — a panel discussion. And I was sitting there and I…
Quivers: Can they really do that? You didn’t say anything!
Stern: Nothing! I said nothing new. And so I emailed Trump and I wanted to explain to him that, uh, that is not what I said.
Quivers: They took the tape and they used it.
Stern: They took the tape. I don’t provide tape to people. They’re now combing through tapes and dragging up statements that he might have said.
Quivers: Where are these tapes? I thought we had the only copies.
Stern: The only copies? They’re all over the fucking place.
*Quivers laughs*
Stern: So I felt a little weird about that. I’ll be honest with you, I did.
Quivers: Well, you see what the press does. They make up things!
Stern: Yeah. I didn’t come out with it. The tape is what the tape is. Make of it what you will.
Quivers: But don’t say you said anything.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Stern: The only thing that I’m confirming is that the tape is from our show. That much I can confirm. That’s all I was saying. That’s why they mentioned me at the debate. But I don’t know how CNN came up with that headline. Now it’s true, over the weekend alone, there was at least seven new sort of things that Trump said on our show that they featured on these talk shows that came out. Paris Hilton comments, just everything they’re dragging out from our show. Which is fair. I don’t say no.
Quivers: It’s in the public record, I mean…
Stern: It’s in the public record.
Quivers: It was said, yeah.
Stern: I will say that Donald Trump was one of the best guests we ever had because he would kind of have this stream of consciousness and was not politically correct, and so he always made for a fun guest. And a lot of his stuff was in the spirit of that. But he did say it. So, you know, that’s what they’re using. But I think you would have to cut him some slack and say he’s doing it on the ‘Howard Stern Show’ in a fun sort of bit.
Quivers: Yeah, it’s almost like being on Saturday Night Live.
Stern: Yeah.
Quivers: You’re not going to hold him to everything he says on Saturday Night Live, are you?
Stern: Well, this is different because it’s not scripted and you are being yourself, technically, but please… and by the way, don’t hold me to everything I ever say on this show because I have no idea what I say. I know for me, I’m trying to be humorous and I think Donald Trump is trying to be humorous.
Quivers: Was to, yeah… But that’s what I mean. It’s not him necessarily sitting down and having a serious conversation about things.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Stern: Like, can you imagine when Tracy Morgan runs in 2031 for president of the United States?
Quivers: Oh my goodness. It’s going to be terrible.
Stern: All his comments about pussy.
Quivers: Oh dear!
Stern: Oh dear. Oh dear is right. But I did see that Trump was interviewed and he did say that, had I known I was going to run for president, I never would have done the ‘Howard Stern Show.’
Quivers: Well, that’s not right! Why can’t you do this show as well as any other?
Stern: Well I guess he would’ve approached it differently. Not try to be funny.
Quivers: Yeah, there are people who have done that.
Stern: And he said, if I had done that, I would’ve been boring on the show, which is true. But anyway, I’m on every political show. The show is mentioned everywhere — which is good for the show, you know. I mean, listen, our names are out there in the press, but I don’t even care about any of that. I just want the election over with. (RELATED: Howard Stern’s Epic Gun Rant: The Wolves Are Attacking, And The Sheep Are Disarming!)
