Moammar Gadhafi told Barbara Walters in a 1989 interview that he had a great understanding of the American people.

In January 1989, Walters sat down with the Libyan dictator, who was killed today by insurgents, in a tent he used for an office at his headquarters in Libya’s capital. The man his people called “The Leader” wore a white silk suit and a flowing cape, and backless alligator shoes worn with no socks.

Walters noted in her report that Gadhafi “rarely looked me in the eye.”

He shared his thoughts about Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, about incidents of terrorism, and about the American people and the biggest misconception they have about him:

“The American administration would give much regard to the interests of the Zionists who control the press media,” he told Walters. “They want to introduce me to the world and to the American people. They will show pictures of me next to skulls, to dead bodies; they are not reflecting the true picture of me. ”

Gadhafi said, “I do understand the American people very well.”

“In my point of view, America is made up of two parts,” he said. “That is, the American people and the American administration ruling it… The American people, they are completely ignorant of the world completely and they know nothing about the outside world. And unfortunately during the recent years the American administration become more interested with the outside world than with the internal problems.”

Watch the interview below: