Penn Jillette on Trump, his new book, and more
By Kate Murphy
Well-known magician, comedian and author Penn Jillette joined Yahoo News Guest Anchor Alexis Christoforous to talk about his new book, “Presto! How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales.” And, as a former contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “All-Star Celebrity Apprentice,” Jillette also shared his opinions on Donald Trump.
Behind the scenes, Jillette said Trump was pretty much the same guy we see on the campaign trail and believes that while Trump’s “capricious, volatile, random, thin-skinned” qualities may work for reality TV, those qualities are “really, really bad for president.”
While Jillette admired Trump’s “no-filter” approach, he said “America wanted somebody who really stayed away from the D.C. elites and really spoke and got them upset and shook things up, and I wanted that too. But, I didn’t want him.”
The ongoing feud between Donald Trump and the Khans, the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, also came up. Jillette, father of two children, thought Trump’s comments were out of line, saying, “We can’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child. I can’t even speak about the lack of empathy that he showed on that.”
Penn Jillette is a committed Libertarian, and even hosted the final Libertarian presidential debate earlier this year. When asked whom he would vote for, he said he’s a fan of the Libertarian presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, because he’s “a grownup in this election that’s actually well-spoken and has an incredible track record.”
From the unconventional election, Penn Jillette talked about his new book “Presto!” and the unconventional way he lost over 100 pounds. Jillette was approaching his 60th birthday with a blood pressure reading of 220, which he compared to “U.K. voltage.” A doctor had said he would need surgery to help him lose the weight that was necessary to lower his blood pressure. Jillette said he always took the easy way to try to lose weight. That’s when his friend and former NASA scientist, Ray Cronise, stepped in and said he should lose weight the hard way, with something that would change his life. Cue the potato diet.
For two weeks, Penn Jillette ate nothing but potatoes. The idea behind it is “anything that knocks you out of the habit socially and knocks you out of your eating habits.”
Jillette says he currently sticks to eating “no animal products, no refined grains and extremely low salt, sugar and oil.” But he says every two weeks he’ll enjoy something with his kids, like a pizza or a sundae. “No one ever got fat from one meal.”
Jillette downplays the supposed complexities of dieting and weight loss. “It’s not magic,” he says. “It’s not rocket science. It’s food.”
