Trump Rages at Maggie Haberman and New York Mag Over 9/11 Reports: ‘Liars and Scoundrels’
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
President Donald Trump erupted at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and New York magazine on Tuesday over reporting about his whereabouts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and his plans for this year’s 25th anniversary commemoration, demanding retractions while calling journalists “liars and scoundrels” and attacking Haberman as “unattractive both inside and out.”
The president’s entire tirade on Truth Social read:
The Failing New York Magazine wrote a story that I wasn’t down at the World Trade Center after the Tragedy of September 11th, because nobody saw me there. Well, I don’t think I would be the first thing on anyone’s mind but, I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers. I discussed it today during my Remarks on the Ellipse, in Washington, D.C., for Tunnel to Towers. Everything I said was exactly accurate and, to prove the point, I am attaching clips of me there with numerous of my people, including my then Head of Security, Matthew Calamari, who has confirmed that very sad trip to Lower Manhattan, many times, to many different Journalists, but it’s a story that just won’t die. The Fake News doesn’t want to listen, even when they know their story is false. That’s why their approval ratings are at an All Time LOW, but mine are VERY HIGH! On another September 11th front, Maggot Hagerman continues to say that I did not go to the New York World Trade Center event, but the Pentagon instead, because they wouldn’t let me speak in New York. Maggot knows that this is a lie! I have been to the New York solemn ceremony numerous times, and nobody speaks. It is a stated fact that, “Politicians and public officials are not permitted to deliver speeches or remarks at the official September 11 anniversary remembrance ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.” Certainly I would not want to violate that, even if I could. I speak enough, and it just so happens that the strong request was made for me to be at the Pentagon instead, with VP Vance handling our Administration’s representation in New York. Hagerman, unattractive both inside and out, fully knows that her story is made up. She knows less about me than the average reporter “on the beat.” I haven’t spoken to her in a long time, and certainly there was no “fact checking” for her story — There never is! Let her reveal her sources, because they don’t exist. Again, speeches are not made at the New York event and, even if they were, I never asked to speak. Fake News is getting worse and worse in the U.S.A. It’s very important to comment so that people understand what liars and scoundrels these so-called “journalists” are. They’re angry, and sick, over the fact that I won the Presidential Election three times! I hereby demand a retraction from Maggot, and also, for whoever wrote the fake story for New York Magazine. Again, check out the clips of me at the World Trade Center site. I was there as soon as the Law allowed. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
The president accompanied his post with a 48-second archival clip captioned, “What Donald Trump Saw at.. Ground Zero hours After 9/11.” The footage showed Trump speaking with reporters in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 13, 2001, two days after the attacks, and claiming, “I have about 100 men working down here,” before adding that he “was just down at Ground Zero.”
The post came hours after Trump’s account of his experience following the attacks drew renewed scrutiny. During Tuesday’s Tunnel to Towers event on the Ellipse, Trump recounted being near One Liberty Plaza when two firefighters, fearing the building was about to collapse, grabbed him under the arms, “literally lifted me up,” and carried him away.
Trump appeared to be responding to a New York magazine article published earlier Tuesday that debunked his latest account and described his claims about his post-9/11 activities as unsubstantiated. The magazine highlighted the lack of corroboration for Trump’s longstanding claims about his involvement at Ground Zero, including his assertion that he brought a large construction crew to help with recovery efforts, and cited a retired FDNY chief who previously said he never saw Trump at the site.
The president’s broadside against Haberman, meanwhile, revived a separate dispute over his plans for Friday’s 25th anniversary. Haberman and her New York Times colleagues reported last month that Trump was expected to attend the Pentagon commemoration rather than the ceremony at Ground Zero after his desire to speak was relayed to organizers.
The post Trump Rages at Maggie Haberman and New York Mag Over 9/11 Reports: ‘Liars and Scoundrels’ first appeared on Mediaite.