Kushner Told 'Morning Joe' Hosts They'd Need To Apologize To Trump To Stop Damaging Story
Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough responded to President Trump's tweets from yesterday in a Washington Post column titled "Donald Trump is not well". In it they make the explosive allegation that the Trump White House tried to blackmail them with a National Enquirer article. Here's What you need to know.
Brzezinski And Scarborough Responded To Trump's Tweets By Questioning His Ability To Serve And Accusing Him Of Blackmail
President Trump launched personal attacks against us Thursday, but our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal. America's leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president. We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show…
The cohosts claim that the Trump White House threatened them with a negative article in the National Enquirer unless they begged for his mercy.
This year, top White House staff members warned that the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about us unless we begged the president to have the story spiked. We ignored their desperate pleas.
Trump's Version Of The Story Is Predictably Different
This morning, Trump tweeted that Joe Scarborough actually approached Trump about the article.
The Daily Beast seems to back up parts of both stories, writing that Joe Scarborough did indeed approach Jared Kushner about the article, and that Kushner suggested talking to the President.
…one of those "top White House staff members" was senior advisor and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, two White House officials confirmed to The Daily Beast.
According to these officials, Kushner and Scarborough had spoken "many weeks ago" regarding a then upcoming negative Enquirer article on Scarborough and Brzezinski. Scarborough had "calmly sought" advice from Kushner, who "recommended he speak with the president."
But White House sources' accounts of the conversation differed from Scarborough's description and suggestions of more sinister interactions. No hostile threat or attempt at blackmail was made, according to these officials.
A New York Magazine story, citing three unnamed sources, seems to back up The Daily Beast's reporting, saying that Scarborough texted with Jared Kushner after learning about the story. Kushner reportedly said Scarborough would have to personally apologize to Trump for him to intervene with the publishing of the article:
According to three sources familiar with the private conversations, what happened was this: After the inauguration, Morning Joe's coverage of Trump turned sharply negative… Around this time, Scarborough and Brzezinski found out the Enquirer was preparing a story about their affair. While Scarborough and Brzezinski's relationship had been gossiped about in media circles for some time, it was not yet public, and the tabloid was going to report that they had left their spouses to be together.
In mid-April, Scarborough texted with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner about the pending Enquirer story. Kushner told Scarborough that he would need to personally apologize to Trump in exchange for getting Enquirer owner David Pecker to stop the story… Scarborough says he refused, and the Enquirer published the story in print on June 5, headlined "Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal!"
Brzezinski also responded on air to President Trump's tweets, saying, "It's been fascinating and frightening and really sad for our country…I am very concerned about what this reveals about the President of the United States."
