National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden took potshots at President Donald Trump during an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour” with Brian Williams.
Snowden, who has been in exile in Russia to avoid prosecution in the United States, discussed everything from individual privacy to his opinion of the president during an interview preceding the release of “Permanent Record,” his upcoming memoir.
What does Edward @Snowden think of Pres. Trump? See him discuss that and much more — including your cell phone and your privacy — ahead of the release of his memoir “Permanent Record.” Catch this #11thHour exclusive at 11PM ET only on @MSNBC.https://t.co/Y6kvXi4snr#11MSNBC pic.twitter.com/Petg0xXtMh
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) September 16, 2019
Snowden claimed that the president was fairly easy to read, and then suggested that he was someone who had “never really known a love that he hasn’t had to pay for.”
“I think he’s actually quite simple to understand. Donald Trump strikes me like nothing so much as a man who has never really known a love that he hasn’t had to pay for,” Snowden explained. “And so everything that he does is informed by a kind of transactionalism. I think and what he’s actually looking for is simply for people to like him, unfortunately that produces a lot of negative effects.” (RELATED: What You Need To Know About Julian Assange — Who Wants A Piece Of Him And Why)
Snowden has been in Russia under the protection of extended temporary asylum since 2013, but he has applied for asylum in France. He told France Inter radio, “I applied for asylum in France in 2013 under [former French President François] Hollande and of course we would love to see [Emmanuel] Macron roll out an invitation.”