Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, told MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that an apology to the president could stop The National Enquirer from publishing a story about their relationship, The Hill reported on…
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, told MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that an apology to the president could stop The National Enquirer from publishing a story about their relationship, The Hill reported on Friday.
Kushner and Scarborough texted each other about the story in mid-April before the tabloid published it earlier this month, according to the Hill.
The report was originally disclosed by Gabriel Sherman in New York Magazine.
Kushner said the Enquirer’s story could be stopped if Scarborough and his « Morning Joe » co-host, now engaged to be married, apologized to Trump for their negative coverage of his administration.
Scarborough refused — and the Enquirer published the report on June 5: « Joe & Mika: TV Couple’s Sleazy Cheating Scandal. »
In a statement to New York Magazine, the Enquirer 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. »
Scarborough and Brzezinski first disclosed the incident Friday in their op-ed piece in The Washington Post, « Donald Trump Is Not Well. »
« We have known Mr. Trump for more than a decade and have some fond memories of our relationship together, » they said. « But that hasn’t stopped us from criticizing his abhorrent behavior or worrying about his fitness. »
They added that President Trump’s « unhealthy obsession with ‘Morning Joe’ does not serve the best interests of either his mental state or the country he runs.
« We believe it would be better for America and the rest of the world if he would keep his 60-inch-plus flat-screen TV tuned to ‘Fox and Friends, ‘ » they said.
The pair also slammed Trump’s attacks on Brzezinski’s appearance and mental stability in a pair of Twitter posts on Thursday.
The tweets brought widespread condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats.
On Friday, Trump tweeted that he did not stop the Enquirer’s story:
Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show
In addition, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down in her defense of the president’s initial tweets, saying that Americans elected « a fighter » and dismissed the idea that Trump should be held to a higher standard of conduct.
« They knew what they were getting when they voted for Donald Trump and he won overwhelmingly, » Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing.
