David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified at Donald Trump’s trial that the tabloid completely fabricated a negative story in 2016 about the father of Sen. Ted Cruz, who was Trump’s rival for the GOP presidential nomination at the time. The story involved a photo allegedly showing Cruz’s father with Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963, just before Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Trump referenced this story multiple times during his campaign, insinuating a connection between Cruz’s father and Oswald. Pecker revealed that the National Enquirer faked the photo that was the basis of the story, and that Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, would orchestrate negative stories about other Republican opponents as well.
During the trial, Pecker testified that Cohen would call and request the publication to run negative articles about certain candidates, including Cruz, and then provide material for them to embellish. This suggests that Trump was directly involved in the process, as part of an arrangement made in 2015 which also included writing positive stories about Trump. National Enquirer headlines during the 2016 race also targeted Sen. Marco Rubio and suggested he had a love child and connections to cocaine. Pecker stated that he would receive calls from Cohen after Republican debates, directing the tabloid on which direction to go with the stories about the candidates.
When the story about Cruz’s father was published, Cruz called Trump a “pathological liar” and accused him of lying frequently. Cruz stated that Trump doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies and is quick to accuse others of lying when confronted. Trump’s promotion of fake news and negative stories about his opponents, orchestrated by Cohen and Pecker, sheds light on the manipulation and political tactics used by the former president and his team during the 2016 presidential campaign. These revelations raise questions about the ethical boundaries and fake news practices employed by individuals close to Trump.
Pecker’s testimony at the trial also indicated that stories about Trump’s opponents were strategically planned and orchestrated, with the National Enquirer playing a role in promoting negative narratives about Cruz, Rubio, and other Republican candidates. The tabloid published sensationalized stories about these candidates based on directives from Cohen and, potentially, Trump himself. This suggests a level of coordination and manipulation within Trump’s inner circle during the 2016 election, where negative campaigning and fake news were used as tools to discredit opponents and boost Trump’s image.
The revelations from Pecker’s testimony shed light on the elaborate effort to smear Trump’s rivals and manipulate the media narrative during the 2016 presidential campaign. The fabrication of stories, like the one about Cruz’s father, demonstrates the willingness of individuals close to Trump to engage in unethical and deceitful tactics in order to advance his political agenda. The implications of these revelations go beyond the trial itself, pointing to a larger pattern of misinformation and manipulation within Trump’s inner circle and raising concerns about the integrity of political media and the influence of fake news in shaping public perception.
Overall, David Pecker’s testimony at Donald Trump’s trial provides insight into the orchestrated effort to spread disinformation and negative narratives about the former president’s political opponents during the 2016 campaign. The National Enquirer’s role in publishing fake news stories at the direction of Trump and his associates highlights the unethical and manipulative tactics employed by the Trump administration to control the media narrative and discredit rival candidates. These revelations underscore the importance of ethical journalism and accountability in political discourse, and serve as a reminder of the dangers of fake news and misinformation in shaping public opinion and influencing elections.
