Donald Trump’s relationship with the National Enquirer is well documented, but few have noticed how the biggest online tabloid site, TMZ, has become a staunch defender of the him as well. After every scandal or moment of bad press during the 2016 campaign, The Daily Beast writes, TMZ rushed in to defend and support of Trump. That’s because Harvey Levin, TMZ’s founder and boss, is a huge Trump supporter and spoke to the candidate “frequently” throughout the 2016 campaign.
“There was a point Harvey would make jokes in the newsroom that he would be press secretary or in the Cabinet, but we got the impression he was only half joking,” said another former staffer who had daily dealings with Levin.
The Daily Beast reports that Levin went out of his way to try to discredit all sexual misconduct allegations against the president, going as far as calling airlines to ask about their armrest configurations in the 1970s after Jessica Leeds accused Trump of groping her on an airplane.
“Harvey was convinced that, when this incident occurred, armrests didn’t lift up. He wanted to find a way to say she’s a liar,” said a former TMZ staffer to The Daily Beast.
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