The Daily Beast issued an apology and removed an article Thursday alleging Donald and Melania Trump originally were introduced by a Jeffrey Epstein-connected modeling agent.
The article’s removal, accompanied by a rare apology, followed a letter from Melania Trump’s attorney to the leftwing outlet.
“After this story was published, The Beast received a letter from first lady Melania Trump’s attorney challenging the headline and framing of the article,” read an editor’s note. “After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologies for any confusion or misunderstanding.”
The Daily Beast scrubbed the headline, body text, image, and URL of the original article.
Melania Trump seemed to take a victory lap Friday, posting to X an article by the New York Post about the Beast’s story being taken down.
The first lady offered no additional comment.
The struck article rehashed claims made on a Daily Beast podcast by Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury, a 2018 bestseller highly critical of the first Trump administration.
In a February 2024 post on Truth Social, Donald Trump attacked Wolff’s latest book as “a total FAKE JOB, just like the other JUNK he wrote.”
“His other books about me have been discredited, as this one will be also,” he said.
Wolff alleged in the podcast that Melania was responsible for fostering a relationship between Trump and Epstein. “She’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She’s introduced to Trump that way,” he charged. “Epstein knows her well.”
In the weeks before the Daily Beast’s story, Democrats and the establishment media have embraced the scandal surrounding Epstein’s many crimes and his death in prison, ruled a suicide.
Many Democrats have called for the release of Department of Justice files on Epstein, alleging unsubstantiated ties between Donald Trump and the convicted sex trafficker.
Democrats were mostly silent during the four years of the Biden-Harris administration, as many Republicans – including Trump’s choice for vice president, JD Vance – called for the public release of withheld government files on Epstein.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
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