According to a bombshell report published in The New Yorker this Monday, in 2016 a Fox News reporter “had obtained proof” of Donald Trump‘s past affair and subsequent hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, but the potential story was killed by an editor at the network so it wouldn’t hurt Trump’s chances at winning the presidency.
The scoop was obtained by former Fox reporter Diana Falzone, who reportedly confirmed it with several sources close to the matter, some of whom included Daniels herself and her ex-husband.
The story later debuted in The Wall Street Journal and kicked off a firestorm of intrigue and controversy, but its appearance wasn’t until 2018, well after Trump’s election.
This @JaneMayerNYer story confirms what so many people have reported anecdotally, which is that Fox News has turned conservative but formerly reasonable people into fanatics by feeding them a steady diet of fear and outrage–so essentially mind control. https://t.co/K7G4coq92s pic.twitter.com/SNPc8TsH1M
— Sulome (@SulomeAnderson) March 4, 2019
After the story was initially shut down, Falzone was reportedly told by FoxNews.com editor Ken LaCorte that her findings would hurt Trump and would have to be buried.
“Good reporting, kiddo,” LaCorte reportedly told her. “But Rupert [Murdoch] wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go.”
When The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer reached out to LaCorte for comment, he denied the conversation ever took place, but one of his colleagues confirmed hearing what he said.
Falzone later sued Fox News, saying that she was “abruptly taken off air” by the network for “writing an article in January 2017 about her struggle with endometriosis, a medical condition that would likely leave her infertile.”
According to Falzone, Fox violated New York City law and discriminated against her based on “sex and disability,” adding that she did not fit their image of being “physically perfect” after she disclosed her condition.
The New Yorker piece, titled, The Making of the Fox News White House, highlights how the network has gone from being a partisan outlet to an outright propaganda channel for Trump.
Featured image via Flickr
