New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Wednesday said President Donald Trump was lying when he tweeted that “writers” — presumably the authors of the Times’ latest rundown of his interference with the Justice Department — “don’t even call asking for verification.”
The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
“That’s not true,” Haberman said of the tweet in a CNN interview Wednesday morning.
“That’s a lie, and I don’t know whether he knows it’s a lie or whether he is telling himself this is true, whether his staff doesn’t tell him that we have reached out, but I find that awfully hard to believe that his staff did not brief him, once again, that this kind of a report was coming.”
Earlier in the interview, Haberman “open[ed] up the door to the reporting process on dealing with his White House.”
The Times reached out with questions on Friday, Haberman said, with several emails “that went unanswered until yesterday.”
“They chose not to engage and then afterwards the President acted surprised,” she said.
Haberman left open the possibility that Trump’s aides didn’t tell him about the Times’ impending report, but she said it was also possible that “this is a game [to Trump] and he knows what it is and he’s pretending that he doesn’t.”
Watch below:
Maggie Haberman says Trump is lying with tweet accusing reporters of not reaching out before publishing a story. pic.twitter.com/NAHNf685uY
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 20, 2019
H/t Mediaite.
