‘That Is a False Quote’: MSNBC’s Melber Threatens Lewandowski With Legal Action on Air
Threat of defamation suit capped a contentious interview
A heated on-camera interview between a prominent MSNBC host and one of Donald Trump’s top campaign advisors ended with the host threatening the Trump aide with potential legal action.
Ari Melber, one of MSNBC’s most prominent hosts — and himself an attorney — was interviewing longtime Trump associate Corey Lewandowski on his Wednesday program, when Lewandowski asserted that Melber had called the bandage Trump wore on his ear at the Republican National Convention following the assassination attempt against him “a prop.”
A gunman fired at Trump in July during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and Trump wore a bandage on his ear for a time afterwards, including at the Republican nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wis.
Melber became angry when Lewandowski insisted that the host said something that he said he didn’t
“You want me to respond to you? Now we’re at the end of the interview. You want me to respond to that? Okay, I’m happy to, since we’re on live air — ” Melber said.
“Do you agree that you were wrong?” Lewandowski, whom Trump recently brought aboard his floundering 2024 campaign, pressed.
“I’m going to respond to you on live air,” Melber replied. “I quoted a New York Times article that said, at the convention, Donald Trump was his own biggest prop. It was a New York Times quote about how he had become such an important figure in rebounding from what was a horrific assassination attempt.
“Fox News — Corey, I said I’m gonna address it, I’m gonna finish. Fox News, many viewers may not know about this, but apparently you do, and some do, Fox News, which has been taught caught in defamation, ran a false piece falsely stating that I said something else that I didn’t say,” Melber added. “So, I stand on that. I stand on The New York Times quote.”
Lewandowski didn’t relent.
“So you didn’t say, ‘This bandage was a prop, a spectacle, from a candidate who’s obsessed with spectacles?’” he pressed.
“I did not say that. Mr. Lewandowski, I did not say that. That is a false quote,” Melber said.
“I have it right here,” Lewandowski countered.
“What you have is a false quote. And I’m putting you on notice: If you continue to repeat falsely that I said that, you will be potentially in a defamation situation, because I didn’t say that. But I understand that you’re working off the Internet, which has a lot of false information. I wish you luck with that,” Melber said, before trying to end the encounter. “Corey Lewandowski, we gave you time, I appreciate you coming on.”
Lewandowski still didn’t give up however.
Even as the segment was ending, the Trump acolyte asked, “So you would apologize to the president?”
“Thank you for joining me,” Melber countered, ending the exchange.
Please support our work…
Please subscribe…