Donald Trump’s Alliance With the National Enquirer

TED CRUZ HOLDS ADDRESSES MEDIA IN OSHKOSH, WI | MARCH 25, 2016

Donald Trump’s Alliance With the National Enquirer

By Gabriel Sherman

October 30, 2015 12:50 p.m.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/10/trumps-alliance-with-the-national-enquirer.html

Throughout his scorched-earth presidential campaign, Donald Trump has mastered the art of the political attack against all of his rivals save one: Ben Carson. How he should handle the soft-spoken former neurosurgeon has been a question that’s vexed Trump from the moment Carson began eating into Trump’s lead. First, Trump tried attacking Carson head-on, questioning his medical reputation by calling him an “okay doctor” (Carson is known to have separated the first conjoined infant twins). When that didn’t work, he tried embracing him onstage at the second primary debate.

Now, as Carson overtakes Trump as the GOP front-runner, it appears Trump is getting help from a media outlet known for ending presidential candidacies: the National Enquirer. Earlier this month, the Enquirer published a cover story on Carson headlined “Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left Sponge in Patient’s Brain!” The article called Carson a “White House wannabe” and claimed he “brandished a scalpel like a meat cleaver!” It went on to quote angry former patients saying he botched surgeries that left them disfigured and in pain; one patient who sued Carson said he forgot to remove a surgical sponge from her brain after a procedure. “His presidential campaign should be dead on arrival!” Enquirer reporter Sharon Churcher wrote.

Trump and Enquirer CEO David Pecker have been friends for years. “They’re very close,” said a source close to the Enquirer. In July 2013, Trump even tweeted that Pecker should become CEO of Time magazine, which at the time was being spun off from its corporate parent, Time Warner. “He’d make it exciting and win awards!”

This person also said that Trump’s campaign was a source for the article: “His campaign provided information that was used,” he explained. A Trump friend said that in the days leading up to the article’s publication Trump was telling people that Carson “had a lot of medical malpractice suits” and “almost killed a guy.”

Trump’s spokesperson, Hope Hicks, told me “there’s absolutely no truth” to the claim Trump was behind the article. When I asked the Enquirer for comment, Pecker said it was “utterly false” that the Trump campaign was their source. “We did what the National Enquirer has always done, our investigative reporters went back and poured through numerous legal documents to discover the details that led to our exclusive coverage of malpractice claims against Ben Carson,” he said in a statement.

Whether or not Trump has been a source for the Enquirer, his friendship with Pecker has paid dividends. At key moments during the GOP primary the Enquirer has helped boost Trump’s campaign by attacking his rivals and fawning over him. Two weeks after Trump launched his campaign in mid-June, the Enquirer reported that Jeb Bush was “involved in the drug trade in Florida” in the '80s and that, as governor, he was plagued by “sleazy cheating scandals … [with a] Playboy Bunny turned lawyer.” In September, the Enquirer published an unflattering photograph of Bush’s adult daughter apparently taking cigarette breaks at her office. The article hit just days after Jeb told Americans they needed to work longer hours.

Carly Fiorina has also been slimed. After the former Hewlett-Packard CEO bested Trump at the second GOP debate last month, the Enquirer ran an article headlined “Homewrecker Carly Fiorina Lied About Druggie Daughter.” The article attacked one of Fiorina’s best moments at the debate: her emotional account of her daughter’s struggle with drug addiction. “The National Enquirer has exclusively learned that Lori Ann Fiorina, who died in October 2009, was in fact Carly’s stepdaughter,” the tabloid reported. “She was brought up not by Carly but by her biological mom, Patricia Fiorina, whose marriage allegedly was wrecked by the 61-year-old White House hopeful who is determined to knock Donald Trump from his superior front-runner status!”

The tabloid has also gone after Hillary Clinton, of course. A series of cover stories has alleged that Clinton is on her deathbed and is “engaging in a massive cover-up about her health.” The Enquirer claims she is suffering from strokes, brain cancer, depression, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, endometriosis, and paranoia, among other dire conditions.

Meanwhile, Trump has been exclusively celebrated in the Enquirer’s pages. As talk of a Trump candidacy heated up last winter, the tabloid published an article headlined “Trump’s the One!” that reported him leading in the polls. In September, the Enquirer published a three-part series by Trump himself under the headline “The Man Behind the Legend!”

Trump’s scandal-filled personal life would be yuge! for the supermarket tabloid, but to the Enquirer, it seems, friendship is forever.  

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton is the candidate for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, Chelsea V. Clinton’s mother, and was a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary) supported the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign.

Chelsea V. Clinton is Hillary Rodham Clinton’s daughter, the vice chair for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and was an associate at the Avenue Capital Group.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.   

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council for the Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary), the founder of the Soros Fund Management, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Committee for Economic Development, the Harlem Children's Zone, and the Robin Hood Foundation.

Donald Trump was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the chairman for the Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., and is the candidate for the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign.

Marc Lasry was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and is the founder & managing partner for the Avenue Capital Group.

Richard D'Addario was a director of banking & finance for the Soros Fund Management, and a senior portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group.

Robert T. Symington is the portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group, and a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.

David Licht is the SVP, Avenue Capital U.S. Funds for the Avenue Capital Group, a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., and was a director at the American Media, Inc.

Michael D. Elkins is the portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group, a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., and was a director at the American Media, Inc.

David J. Pecker is the chairman & president & CEO for American Media, Inc., and a friend of Donald Trump.

American Media, Inc. is the publisher for the National Enquirer.

Generoso Pope was the founder of the National Enquirer, and married to Lois Pope.

Lois Pope was married to Generoso Pope, and is a trustee at the University of Miami.

University of Miami was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Donna E. Shalala was the president of the University of Miami, a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, is the president & CEO for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and a risk committee member for the Risky Business Project.

Michael R. Bloomberg is a co-chair for the Risky Business Project, Emma Bloomberg’s father, was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation.

Maurice R. Greenberg was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and is a director at the Police Athletic League of New York City.

Donald Trump is a director at the Police Athletic League of New York City, the candidate for the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, a friend of David J. Pecker, was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the chairman for the Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., and a donor for the Drumthwacket Foundation.

Drumthwacket Foundation maintains the governor's mansion for the New Jersey state government.

Christopher J. Christie is an honorary chairman for the Drumthwacket Foundation, the New Jersey state government governor, married to Mary Pat Christie, and was the candidate for the 2016 Chris Christie presidential campaign.

Mary Pat Christie is the president of the Drumthwacket Foundation, the chair for the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, and Cam Henderson was her chief of staff.

Cam Henderson was Mary Pat Christie’s chief of staff, the finance director for the 2016 Chris Christie presidential campaign, and is the executive director for the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.

Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund is a relief organization for Hurricane Sandy.

Robin Hood Foundation raised money for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Emma Bloomberg was the chief of staff for the Robin Hood Foundation, and is Michael R. Bloomberg’s daughter.

Michael R. Bloomberg was a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, is Emma Bloomberg’s father, and a co-chair for the Risky Business Project.

Donna E. Shalala is a risk committee member for the Risky Business Project, the president & CEO for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, was a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the president of the University of Miami.

University of Miami was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Lois Pope is a trustee at the University of Miami, and was married to Generoso Pope.

Generoso Pope was married to Lois Pope, and the founder of the National Enquirer.

American Media, Inc. is the publisher for the National Enquirer.

David J. Pecker is the chairman & president & CEO for American Media, Inc., and a friend of Donald Trump.

David Licht was a director at the American Media, Inc., is the SVP, Avenue Capital U.S. Funds for the Avenue Capital Group, and a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.

Michael D. Elkins was a director at the American Media, Inc., is the portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group, and a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.

Robert T. Symington is the portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group, and a director at Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.

Richard D'Addario was a senior portfolio manager for the Avenue Capital Group, and a director of banking & finance for the Soros Fund Management.

Chelsea V. Clinton was an associate at the Avenue Capital Group, is the vice chair for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s daughter.