In a jaw-dropping tweet President Donald Trump touted coverage by an unidentified Washington Post “competitor” — though clearly the National Enquirer — of the story behind the breakup of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos’ marriage. But Trump called him “Jeff Bozo.”
The dig on Sunday was particularly astonishing because National Enquirer chief executive David Pecker allegedly arranged to pay porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to “catch and kill” their stories about their alleged affairs with Trump. The hush money, allegedly directed by Trump and provided through his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, is being investigated as a possible unreported and illegal campaign contribution.
The Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, admitted to federal prosecutors that it had paid McDougal $150,000 to “suppress” her story with the express intention of boosting Trump’s chances to win the presidency. Pecker has been given immunity to cooperate with investigators.
Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announced in a statement Wednesday that they had decided to divorce after 25 years of marriage. The Enquirer later that day published a story online about Bezos’ alleged relationship with former Fox TV personality Laura Sanchez and followed up with a longer print version of a piece it touted as a major investigative article.
On Thursday, Trump seemed almost sensitive about the situation, and told reporters of Bezos and the divorce: “I wish him luck. It’s gonna be a beauty.”
But his tone was different Sunday as he gloated about the Enquirer’s coverage of Bezos. He had nothing to say about the Enquirer’s total miss on the Daniels — and McDougal — story.
The irony was not lost on Twitter.
