Trump On Pledge To Investigate Clintons: “I Don’t Want To Hurt Them. They’re Good People”

Zero Hedge reports: In his first televised interview since winning the election this week, a “more serious, more subdued” Donald Trump spoke to CBS’ 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl from his penthouse in the Trump Tower.

As CBS’ Lesley Stahl summarized the interview, “what we discovered in Mr. Trump’s first television interview as president-elect was that some of his signature issues at the heart of his campaign were not meant to be taken literally, but as opening bids for negotiation.

Before we get into the nuances of Trump’s interview whose full transcript is presented at the end of this post, for those pressed for time here are the key highlights from Trump’s interview:

Trump says he will talk with FBI Director Comey before deciding whether to ask his resignation, says “I respect him a lot”
Trump, on pledge to appoint special prosecutor to investigate Clintons, says “I don’t want to hurt them. They’re good people”
Trump says he is “fine” with same-gender marriage; says he does not intend to overturn Supreme Court ruling on marriage
Trump confirms he will forego salary as president
Trump tells protesters: “don’t be afraid”
Trump condemns harassment of minorities
Trump vows to name pro-life, pro-gun rights Supreme Court justices

Among many things discussed, Trump told Stahl that Clinton’s phone call conceding the election was “lovely” and acknowledged that making the phone call was likely “tougher for her than it would have been for me,” according to previews of the interview released by CBS. Trump said “she couldn’t have been nicer. She just said, ‘Congratulations, Donald, well done,’” Trump told Stahl. “And I said, ‘I want to thank you very much. You were a great competitor.’ She is very strong and very smart.”

Trump’s tone in the interview contrasted his attacks on the campaign trail, in which he nicknamed Clinton “Crooked Hillary” and encouraged chants to “Lock her up!” during his rallies.

Trump also told Stahl that former president Bill Clinton called him the following day and “couldn’t have been more gracious.” “He said it was an amazing run – one of the most amazing he’s ever seen,” Trump said. “He was very, very, really, very nice.”

In the interview with Stahl, Trump did not rule out calling both of the Clintons for advice during his term. “I mean, this is a very talented family,” he said. “Certainly, I would certainly think about that.”

Ironically, Trump was also asked if he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary’s private server as he suggested he would during the second debtate.

“I’m going to think about it….I don’t want to hurt them,” he said in the “60 Minutes” interview. “Um, I feel that I want to focus on jobs, I want to focus on healthcare, I want to focus on the border and immigration and doing a really great immigration bill. We want to have a great immigration bill. And I want to focus on — all of these other things that we’ve been talking about.”

{Matzav.com}