Over the weekend, Fox News looked at the questions surrounding the Donald J. Trump Foundation, bringing on the reporter who has done the most digging into Trump's charitable foundation, The Washington Post's David Farenthold. In the interest of fairness, they followed that interview with a rebuttal from Trump campaign senior adviser Boris Epshteyn, who began by asserting that "David doesn't have anything right factually," adding that Farenthold has "a very sick obsession with Donald Trump." Fox News host Leland Vittert interrupted, saying that if Epshteyn answers the question about "what facts David has wrong," he'd give Epshteyn "as much time as you want."
Vittert noted that Farenthold has tried to verify that Trump has given away "millions of dollars of his own money," as Trump claims, and asked if Epshteyn has any proof that's true. Epshteyn said that CNN found three charities that did find donations from Trump, forcing Farenthold to update his report, and citing an article from "The New York Times, believe it or not," that raised doubts about the pay-to-play allegations regarding Trump and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Vittert asked why Trump would want to hide his charitable giving, assuming he really gives away millions. "Well, because he's a private individual," Epshteyn began, and Vittert jumped in, "Boris, he's a private individual who's running for president." Epshteyn began attacking the Clinton Foundation, and then things started getting a bit comabtive.
"Well, we don't know anything about the Trump Foundation because you guys won't tell us about it," Vittert said. "We don't know what it does. You won't release donors, you won't release what you give." Epshteyn protested that it is a private foundation run by a private individual, but when he said that Trump has "given hundreds of millions of dollars to charity," Vittert asked for proof. "Come back with some documents on that, we'd love to see them," he said. "Well, actually, Leland, he's a private individual, he doesn't owe you any documents," Epshteyn said. You can watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source NotesFeature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
