Liberal Outlet Forced To Apologize In Disgrace For Melania Hit Piece

It’s well-documented that President Donald Trump maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before he was arrested on charges of underage enticement for sex. But one liberal outlet’s attempt to draw the same connection to Melania Trump ended in disgrace and a retraction of its entire story.

The Daily Beast on Thursday published a report alleging that the first lady was introduced to her husband by Epstein. She arrived in Manhattan in 1996 to pursue a modeling career, bringing her to the attention of Trump, whom she wedded in 2005.

But the article, which expounds on claims made by reporter Michael Wolff on a Daily Beast podcast, was replaced by an editor’s note apologizing “for any confusion” after Melania’s lawyer contacted the outlet to dispute the story’s central claim.

“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 the editor’s note.

“After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding,” it added.

The story is no longer visible on the Daily Beast’s website, a rare total retraction.

Wolff, who has been targeted by President Trump in the past for his liberal reporting, suggested on the podcast episode that Melania was “very involved” with Epstein at the time she arrived to New York.

“She’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She’s introduced to Trump that way,” Wolff alleged. “Epstein knows her well.”

Jeet Heer, a liberal correspondent for left-leaning The Nation, has accused Wolff of “play[ing] loose with the facts” in his past reporting.

“Wolff is a shoddy, dishonest journalist and his book has to be read with suspicion,” Heer wrote in the New Republic in 2018.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman has also criticized Wolff for “get[ting] basic details wrong” in his stories about the Trump administration, the NY Post reported.

Melania has written in her memoir about her first meeting with Trump during the 1998 Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Klub in New York City.

“I saw my friend wave at someone behind me. When I turned around, I noticed a man and an attractive blonde woman approaching us,” Melania wrote. “‘Hi. I’m Donald Trump,’ the man said when he reached my table.”

Trump sat down at the table of his future wife and struck up a conversation, drawing her charm and attention.

Tying Trump to Epstein has become a parlor game in the press as the administration remains under pressure to release files from the government’s investigation into the prolific pedophile, who died while in custody in 2019. The U.S. Justice Department last week interviewed his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to determine if she knows any additional information about his abuse of countless underage girls, including the names of other prominent individuals who may have been involved.