Ross D. Franklin/AP
- Trump snapped that "he was fucking tired and fatigued too" at his former pollster, per a new book.
- Pollster Tony Fabrizio warned Trump in July 2002 that voters "are just fatigued."
- Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's book recounts Fabrizio's and others' effort so keep Trump on message.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Former President Donald Trump snapped that he was "fucking tired and fatigued too" when his pollster warned that his divisive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was exhausting voters, according to a new book.
Authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa recounted the exchange between Trump and Fabrizio in their forthcoming book "Peril," a copy of which was obtained by Insider ahead of its September 21 publication.
In a July 2020 meeting after Trump's disastrous rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma that drew paltry attendance and widespread mockery online, Fabrizio gave Trump a tough reality check that voters, especially swing voters and independents, were weary of the turmoil of 2020 and checking out.
'Well to be honest, Mr. President, the voters are just fatigued. They're tired of the chaos. They're tired of the tumult," Fabrizio told Trump in the Oval Office, the book said.
"Oh, they're tired?" Trump angrily snapped back at the pollster, according to the book. "They're fucking tired? Well I'm fucking tired and fatigued too."
Trump then reportedly attacked his opponent, calling now-President Joe Biden "too old" and saying "he can't even string together a sentence."
"You can't make him into a crazy liberal," Fabrizio warned, adding, "I don't think people will buy it."
The book recounts the efforts of Fabrizio and others around Trump to try to keep him on message during the 2020 election.
When it came to the pandemic, Trump caused headaches for federal agencies by privately and publicly undercutting the Food & Drug Administration as it oversaw clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
Attorney General Bill Barr also vehemently tried to get Trump to back off a quixotic idea to repeal the concept of birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment, and encouraged him not to back a lawsuit from Texas aiming to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act.
Barr called the case "a fucking loser for you," with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway warning that trying to further degrade healthcare protections during a global pandemic would not be a winning issue for him. The Supreme Court eventually ruled against Texas and upheld the ACA in June of 2021.
In another candid conversation, Barr warned Trump he was losing ground among suburban voters and bluntly told the former president that many people, even those who like his policies and agenda, "just think you're a fucking asshole."