Republican nominee for president Donald J. Trump has been hit hard since the infamous recordings of sexist “locker room banter,” as he calls it, resurfaced last week. Several women have since stepped forward with personal stories of Trump’s inappropriate behavior, and two of them were published in yesterday’s edition of The New York Times.
The very same day, Trump’s lawyers sent a threatening letter addressed to Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of The New York Times, calling the article reckless, defamatory, and a politically-motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
The letter continues, accusing the magazine to:
“Provide a platform to anyone wishing to smear Mr. Trump’s name and reputation prior to the election irrespective of whether the alleged statements have any basis in fact.”
The letter ends with a demand that the executive editor:
“Immediately cease any further publication of this article, remove it from your website and issue a full and immediate retraction and apology. Failure to do so will leave my client with no option but to pursue all available actions and demands.”
The letter is singed by Marc Kasowitz, the same lawyer Trump used to sue Tim O’Brien, former editor of The New York Times for his book, TrumpNation.
News channels are speculating in what will come next.
Fox News discussed if there will be a shift in media protections, while CBS reasons that all established publications at that level have lawyers to vet before putting anything in print, and that anyone filing a lawsuit like this is asking for trouble.
Only two months ago, this very website was threatened by Melania Trump’s lawyers and forced to apologize. However, suing a large publication like The New York Times will be a whole different story.
No apology has been issued by the NYT, and its lawyers are working on a response.
Bring it on, Donald!
UPDATE: The New York Times has issued a statement in response to the retraction demand, and officially declined to retract the story, standing by it 100 percent. Stay tuned for updates as we have them.
Watch the Trump Campaign deny the allegations:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
