Bombshell or not?
Earlier today, Gawker published voicemails allegedly between Donald Trump and MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Tamron Hall that they say show a cozy relationship between the GOP front-runner and the television personalities. According to Gawker, the voicemails were obtained by a group that hacked Trump’s cellphone by resetting the password with the help of a Verizon customer service employee:
Voicemails appear to reveal Donald Trump's cozy relationship with the liberal media https://t.co/YObw8xzFZJ pic.twitter.com/do4B1vxfyR
— Gawker (@Gawker) March 4, 2016
From Gawker:
These voicemails buttress that argument. They indicate that Trump maintains friendly personal relations with members of the elite political press, even as he demonizes them. While Trump and some of his journalistic interrogators play oppositional roles on the public stage, the voicemails suggest that they are in fact favor-trading pals when the cameras are off.
In one of the recordings — allegedly of Joe Scarborough and Brzezinski — the pair thanks Trump profusely for a donation he made to a children’s charity of some sort:
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/705836926289518592
"We're so so grateful for everything Donald," allegedly @JoeNBC on this voicemail to Trump. https://t.co/OLx4wqJOtr
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) March 4, 2016
There’s nothing really earth-shattering in the recordings, but they have opened the MSNBC hosts up to criticism that they’re too cozy with the GOP front-runner, despite any negative coverage they’ve given to The Donald this year.
Scarborough responded to the story on Twitter:
Oh my God. I just read the transcripts! Trump must have contributed to a children's charity. Scandalous!!! https://t.co/BxcZCdSkQb
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
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Through the years, we asked Trump (and many others) to contribute to various charities, including David Axelrod's CURE charity for epilepsy.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
I don't remember leaving any voice mails with him, but it certainly appears to be regarding a children's charity. https://t.co/BxcZCdSkQb
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
Gakwer writes that the voicemails seem to be from 2012, which makes this true:
And for the record, we knew Trump as a fellow NBC employee. We always asked colleagues for charitable gifts. https://t.co/BxcZCdSkQb
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
We even got Trump to contribute $100,000 to David Axelrod's epilepsy charity when he worked at NBC. https://t.co/BxcZCdSkQb
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
Neither Tamron Hall nor Mika Brezinski have tweeted a response to the article as of yet.
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