Trump, in a tuxedo, regales Mar-a-Lago wedding party with complaints about Biden, losing the election

Trump fetes a wedding
(Image credit: screenshot/TMZ)

The gossip website TMZ conspicuously favored Donald Trump during the 2016 election, at the behest of TMZ's founder and boss, Harvey Levin, a friend of Trump's for at least a decade, The Daily Beast reported in 2018.

"TMZ was the Kardashians, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber — and almost overnight it became about the election and supporting Trump," one former staffer told The Daily Beast. "Every lead story we did was about politics and pro-Trump. It took on a completely different energy. It is not a conservative workplace. Some people left after the election. The place just became very dark."

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"We did get 75 million votes, nobody's ever gotten that," Trump told the wedding party. "They said, 'Get 66 million votes, sir, and the election's over.' We got 75 million and they said ... but you know, you saw what happened, 10:30 in the evening, all of a sudden I said, 'That's a strange thing, why are they closing up certain places, right?' Now, a lot of things happening right now, I just wanted to say, it's an honor to be here, it's an honor to have you at Mar-a-Lago, you are a great and beautiful couple."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.