Sean Spicer tried to get a journalist fired from the Atlantic over her sensational tweet implying President Donald Trump was having sex with his daughter, a new book claims.
The incident dates back to December of 2016, after the election but before the inauguration.
‘Either Trump is f**king his daughter or he’s shirking nepotism laws,’ journalist Julia Ioffee wrote in a tweet, along with a link to a news report claiming Ivanka Trump would be using White House office space typically reserved for the first lady.
That report turned out to be false, with Ivanka taking a West Wing office instead of the first lady’s East Wing space.
Sean Spicer (left) tried to get a journalist Julia Ioffe (right) fired from the Atlantic over her sensational tweet implying President Donald Trump was having sex with his daughter
Ioffe was cut loose from her contract with Politico over the tweet but immediately announced a new job at the Atlantic.
Former White House Press Secretary Spicer called Ioffe’s editor at the Atlantic in a rage, according to Howard Kurtz’s new book Media Madness.
Editor Jeffrey Goldberg didn’t budge though, telling Spicer: ‘Haven’t you said some stupid s**t in your life?’
Spicer replied: ‘I say stupid s**t every day. I have never suggested anyone, much less a president, is f**king his daughter.’
Trump is seen with Ivank on January 18. Ioffe’s crass tweet from 2016 asked whether the father and daughter had an inappropriate relationship
According to Kurtz, Goldberg was forced to dig in his heels after Spicer called.
‘Spicer had guaranteed Ioffe’s employmen, Kurtz writes. ‘[Goldberg] couldn’t let an…administration tell him whom to hire or fire.’
Ioffe ultimately deleted the tweet and apologized, calling it ‘a tasteless, offensive tweet’.
Kurtz’s book ‘Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War over the Truth’ is due for release on January 29.