'It's Blackmail': Joe and Mika Reveal How White House Threatened Them With National Enquirer
Source: Mediaite
One of the more fascinating revelations that has come as a result of President Trumps vulgar tweets toward Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski yesterday, was the allegation that the White House threatened Mika and her co-host Joe Scarborough with a negative story planned by National Enquirer.
This stunning claim was first revealed in a Washington Post opinion piece published this morning that was co-written by the morning show hosts and strongly suggests that, under President Trumps direction, the Morning Joe co-hosts felt pressure to somehow do right by the White House, and in exchange the story would be spiked.
On todays riveting interview with the co-hosts who delayed a planned vacation so that they could address this story Joe and Mika went into great detail about this remarkably unsettling episode, which if true, raises remarkably significant questions about the White Houses relationship with a free press.
The National Enquirer is the premier title of American Media, Inc., which is based in Boca Raton, fairly close Trumps Mar-a-lago estate, and is owned by David Pecker, who is a close ally to the president.
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Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/its-blackmail-joe-and-mika-reveal-how-white-house-threatened-them-with-national-enquirer/
Video at the link.
Stuart G
(38,449 posts)Trump is a low life scum...but that is what he does..blackmail..!!!
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,656 posts)By J. Freedom du Lac and Jenna Johnson June 30 at 8:09 AM
The morning after being viciously attacked by President Trump on Twitter, MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski said she wasnt exactly reeling as a result of the presidents deeply personal and vulgar social-media assault.
But, she said Friday on Morning Joe, she is concerned about what Trumps tweets reveal. ... Im fine, Brzezinski said. My family brought me up really tough. This is absolutely nothing for me personally. But Im very concerned about what this once again reveals about the president of the United States. ... She added: It does worry me about the country. ... Said her co-host, Joe Scarborough: Were okay. The country is not.
Brzezinski and Scarborough were scheduled to start a vacation Thursday afternoon, but delayed it to address the presidents attack.
They also authored an op-ed for The Washington Post about Trumps tweets, writing: President Trump launched personal attacks against us Thursday, but our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal. Americas 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, Morning Joe.
....
J. Freedom du Lac is the editor of The Post's general assignment news desk. He was previously a Local enterprise reporter and, before that, the papers pop music critic. Follow @jfdulac
Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covers the White House. She spent more than a year writing about Donald Trump's presidential campaign, traveling to 35 states to attend more than 170 political rallies and interview hundreds of Trump supporters. Follow @wpjenna
NRaleighLiberal
(60,024 posts)sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)But some of Reagan's staff that covered up his Iran contra (collusion with Iran to influence the 1980 election) are still around. Statute of limitations expired?
GOP putting power before country goes back at least to Reagan/Nixon.
Moostache
(9,897 posts)The GOP and right wing are antithetical to our democratic republic, period. They are guilty of TREASON and they should swing for it. I will gladly pull the lever to drop them one by one...
oberliner
(58,724 posts)It's SOP for Trump.
videohead5
(2,181 posts)Would also collude to win.
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)How surprising. I'm totally shocked that the same president that tweets daily about the press would try to manipulate the media.
And pay attention to what Masha Gessen says about how autocrats like Putin attack the press to increase their power.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)In all truthfulness, when I was in college I worked one summer for a landscaping company. We mowed the lawn for a guy named Pope, I believe, who was then the owner of THE NATIONAL INQUIRER.
As long as I am confessing, we also mowed the lawn for Pat Boone.
But on the upside, we mowed the lawn of Howard fast and I briefly, VERY briefly dated his daughter, Rachael.
videohead5
(2,181 posts)Almost got into a fight with Pat Boone in school.his cousin which was the same age stopped it. unfortunately my uncle had a bad temper.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,047 posts)Republican Trump is making the Republican brand more and more toxic every day. The longer Republicons are in denial, the longer-lasting will be the brand damage. Gerrymandering, voter suppression and dirty tricks will not be enough for them to maintain power (artificially).
Weld those two brands together.
Nitram
(22,900 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)no honor
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)On full display.
MountCleaners
(1,148 posts)...and his biggest ally is the National Enquirer!
George II
(67,782 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,021 posts)Glad they mentioned it today... but what are they gonna do about it !!??
eissa
(4,238 posts)why not just reveal them? What do they have to lose at this point?
bucolic_frolic
(43,352 posts)Lock him up.
Wednesdays
(17,439 posts)It'd be a shame if something happened to it.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)Bayard
(22,172 posts)Was Mika and Joe indeed at Mar-a-logo in the timeframe in question, and did they ask to join Rump's table? Or is this all a complete lie?
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)"The president-elect invited us both to dinner on Dec. 30. Joe attended because Mika did not want to go. After listening to the president-elect talk about his foreign policy plans, Joe was asked by a disappointed Mr. Trump the next day if Mika could also visit Mar-a-Lago that night. She reluctantly agreed to go. After we arrived, the president-elect pulled us into his familys living quarters with his wife, Melania, where we had a pleasant conversation. We politely declined his repeated invitations to attend a New Years Eve party, and we were back in our car within 15 minutes.
Mr. Trump also claims that Mika was bleeding badly from a face-lift. That is also a lie."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-not-well/2017/06/30/97759ee0-5d0f-11e7-9b7d-14576dc0f39d_story.html?utm_term=.af427231a05e
Bayard
(22,172 posts)Well that's different then.
Hekate
(90,849 posts)He waits, he waits. Then he spins the lie that you came to him begging for an audience, three nights running, but he said No! because the woman was in a disgusting condition.
The Mad King used to have his own empire where not a soul dared to say no to him and he had the power of life and death over people's careers, and he really thought the US Presidency was going to be like that, only with nukes.
FakeNoose
(32,791 posts)They've already announced they're a couple and they plan to marry. There's no secret romance between them, at least not now. How does Cheeto think he can blackmail them by preventing this news from coming out?
If this happened 6 months ago, then maybe I can see why he tried to do it. If that were the case then Joe and Mika were smart to make the announcement and tell everyone that they were a couple. So Trump had no secret power over them, and no way to blackmail them.
I still think this is a tempest in a teapot. Cheeto's grievances are so great and extensive for the last couple of years, I can't see how this latest bad behavior deserves any more of our attention.
Trump hates women and displays his hatred every day. Kelly O'Donnell, Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorino, Megyn Kelly, Mika Brzezinski, the list goes on and on. I know that there are many more but there's no point in listing names. This man has been elected to lead and serve the American people, and yet HE HATES HALF OF US!
B2G
(9,766 posts)What was there to use as blackmail in January? The fact that they were together was old news.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)They actually track sales based on who is on the cover to decide the next week's cover. I think they test the words they use in their headlines, too.
wishstar
(5,272 posts)Apparently Nat. Enquirer was trying to dig up something scandalous by attempting to get her family to talk about breakup of her marriage to discredit Mika and hurt her reputation and her family. She mentioned phone calls that were made to her daughters and ex-husband.
Hekate
(90,849 posts)"How much is it worth to you to keep this from getting out? Hmmm?"
Blackmail doesn't have to have any truth in it -- just threats of the right kind.
Cognitive_Resonance
(1,546 posts)the press...and conspiracy with gov't officials willingly delivering his threats.
Gothmog
(145,635 posts)riversedge
(70,334 posts)This story is big legs..........
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/media/national-enquirer-donald-trump-joe-scarborough/index.html
Scarborough, Brzezinski say White House used National Enquirer as threat
by Brian Stelter @brianstelter June 30, 2017: 10:55 AM ET
MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski claim President Trump and his White House used the possibility of a hit piece in the National Enquirer to threaten them.
But President Trump has a very different account of what happened. "FAKE NEWS," he tweeted during "Morning Joe" Friday morning.
The editor in charge of the Enquirer, Dylan Howard, said "we have no knowledge of any discussions between the White House and Joe and Mika about our story, and absolutely no involvement in those discussions."
Meanwhile, Scarborough says he has proof of the White House threats -- "I have texts from your top aides and phone records."
Scarborough and Brzezinski are essentially alleging a form of blackmail. ................
elmac
(4,642 posts)and everyone connected needs to go to prison.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,178 posts)Well, I'm sure the GOP has used this tactic for years already.
LakeArenal
(28,855 posts)Brought him down. The three of them spent so many months licking each other down, you'd think they'd be cabinet members...Maybe that was the promise then.... In any event.. it matters that our president is an extortionist... But the fact that it's Mika and Joe....
Cognitive_Resonance
(1,546 posts)gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)that whole family of grifters needs to be locked up
Skittles
(153,212 posts)HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS CRIMINAL / TRAITOR???
Grammy23
(5,815 posts)He has bullied and threatened people for his whole life in order to control people and to get his own way. Once he was inaugurated he obviously felt like he had achieved the highest platform from which he could lord it over people. It is part of his pathology as a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I am no expert but it looks to me like an addict who needs to increase their dose to get the same effect. tRump has to keep upping the ante. He is pushing the limit to see how far he can go---what he can do without going too far. That is part of the thrill for him. If he can "win" it is another boost to his fragile ego. As long as his followers like what they see and hear from him, he is going to keep pushing the envelope.
I am guessing there is a Red Line---a bridge too far--- but have no clue what it might be. He has done or said dozens of things that would have sunk any other person into the sea of "has beens". Just when we think he has gone too far, he rises out of the muck to cheers from his minions. The books that will be written about him and his rise to power are being crafted right now...but no one really knows how this will all play out. We KNOW how we want it to go, but looking where we've been so far, I think all bets are off.
I used to think we had a system in place to protect us from the likes of a tRump. Now I am not so sure. In fact, I am pretty sure the whole mechanism has been corrupted and vandalized. Who or what will save us? You got me.