A New York court has heard evidence about how Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was helped by a US tabloid newspaper called the National Enquirer. The newspaper is known for printing sensational and sometimes unverified stories.
The former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, testified that he promised to help Trump by suppressing harmful stories and smearing his political opponents. This agreement was made during a meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015.
Soon after, the National Enquirer started publishing positive stories about Trump and negative stories about his opponents. For example, they printed unfounded claims about Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz, who were all running against Trump for the Republican nomination.
The National Enquirer also attacked Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, with headlines like “Corrupt!” and “Hillary’s Hitman Tells All!”. They made unsubstantiated claims about her health, racism, and corruption.
By the time of the election, the National Enquirer had featured Clinton on its front page at least 15 times in five months. After Trump’s surprise win, the newspaper gloated with a front-page headline that said “We told you so!”.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, but the court case has revealed how the National Enquirer’s biased coverage may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
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