President Donald Trump routinely rails against the lying press and its repeated publication of “fake news.”
Last month, however, we learned that Trump himself has laid out beaucoup bucks to none other than the National Enquirer to manipulate its coverage. In fact, he paid the tabloid to kill stories of his sexual shenanigans. Instead, the Enquirer — a well-known supermarket tabloid overseen by Trump’s buddy, David Pecker — actually endorsed The Donald for president in 2016.
This year, Pecker and American Media, Inc. are being investigated for using “catch and kill” payments in which the Enquirer purchased exclusive rights to stories that could’ve been damaging to Trump’s presidential bid but then refused to publish them.
Case in point: the story of ex-Playmate Karen McDougal, who claimed an alleged affair with Trump. Ditto Stormy Daniels. Ditto former Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin, who told the Enquirer that Trump had fathered a child with his housekeeper. But Pecker never ran those stories and never intended to do so. Instead, he would use them as leverage.
Turns out that executives at the National Enquirer sent articles and cover images pertaining to Donald Trump or his electoral opponents to his attorney, Michael Cohen. The Washington Post reported that this arrangement has continued during Trump’s presidency.
This summer, CNN reviewed a secretly recorded conversation between Cohen and Trump which confirms that The Donald agreed to making a potential hush payment to the National Enquirer regarding the McDougal claim.
The Bronx-born Pecker, who has been cozy with the Queens-born Trump since the late 1990s, clearly wanted to influence the election by burying allegations against the GOP standard-bearer in the final days of the campaign. At that point, Trump needed all the help he could get; he was already dodging fallout from offensive comments he made about women on that infamous “Access Hollywood” videotape.
As Trump danced around his misogyny, Politico reported, the National Enquirer “routinely depicted [his opponent, Democrat Hillary] Clinton as crazed, diseased, near death, an ISIS-supporting traitor, a liar, a blackmailer, corrupt and a member of a crime family. The Enquirer’s sister tabloid, the Globe, contributed its own anti-Hillary salvos, claiming she was hooked on pills, crippled with multiple sclerosis, relying on a body double to conceal her illness and had suffered a crackup.”
Meanwhile, the tabloids celebrated Trump at every turn.
This would all be very funny because everyone knows that the National Enquirer specializes in fake news — I’ll never forget on 1997 headline, “Titanic captain found afloat in rowboat in the North Atlantic” — but it’s really very sad. To know that Trump and his millions have manipulated the “news” as reported in the Enquirer, the same paper that regularly features cover stories about space aliens, could understandably cause a chuckle. But it’s actually a shame and a sin that major media can be so easily controlled.
So who’s really guilty of creating “fake news”? The lying press or a lying president?
Return to Cigarville
From Fred Barnum’s Hotel to Dom Bruno’s Three Rivers Inn, the town of Clay enjoys a rich history of hospitality. The annual Clay Historical Fall Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at Clay Historical Park, 4939 Route 31, behind Immanuel Lutheran Church and before railroad tracks.
Festival-goers will enjoy crafts, face-painting, music and Cigarville tours while perusing the wares of a variety of vendors, farmers and food stands. For info, visit facebook.com/Clay-Historical-Association-125903540774423/.
Last word
“The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it’s TRUE. I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!” – President Donald Trump via Twitter, Aug. 5.
The columnist can be reached at [email protected].
