Melissa Joskow / Media Matters
Right-wing media figures attacked the president’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen after he claimed that then-candidate Trump knew in advance of the June 2016 meeting between his son Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.
CNN reported last night that Cohen claimed to have been in the room when Trump Jr. informed his father of his plans to meet with the lawyer who allegedly had dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton. Whether or not Trump had known of the meeting beforehand has been a central question in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Previously, Trump Jr. had denied informing his father of the meeting. He later testified to Senate investigators that he could not recall whether or not he notified Trump prior to the meeting.
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade questioned Cohen’s credibility and hinted that Cohen may have committed perjury. Fox contributor Geraldo Rivera also hyped Cohen’s “sleaziness.” The Drudge Report referred to Cohen as “the rat.” The Daily Caller published multiple pieces that expressed excitement over Trump’s scathing response to the Cohen story, hyped his denial, and piled on to the Drudge-inspired nickname for Cohen.
Many right-wing media personalities took to Twitter to attack Cohen.
Newsmax’s John Cardillo:
A. Cohen comes off like a spineless jellyfish who would say or do anything to save himself.
B. A candidate having an opposition research meeting isn’t illegal. https://t.co/mRo8rJkk9P— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) July 27, 2018
Townhall opinion writer Kurt Schlichter:
Tempted to do my Monday @townhallcom column on how to utterly eviscerate Michael Cohen in a cross-examination but I like to go at least 700 words.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 27, 2018
#cohen is exactly what DESPERATION looks like! How crazy is it he is going thru the media to beg #MuellerInvestigation to please talk to him about what he now “CLAIMS TO KNOW” about @realDonaldTrump
2. IF #MUELLER CARED ABOUT #COHEN he would have already talked with him!— Ben Ferguson (@benfergusonshow) July 27, 2018
My thoughts on #Cohen
1. He is in serious legal trouble over his own business practices.
2. He will now say ANYTHING to get a deal for immunity. He wants a get out of jail free card and he KNOWS #MUELLER WANTS TO TAKE DOWN @realDonaldTrump so tell them what “they want to hear”— Ben Ferguson (@benfergusonshow) July 27, 2018
New York Post opinion editor Seth Mandel:
Cohen turns to try to save his hide, and he is willing to tell a special counsel that there was collusion but it happens to be the one conversation in his life he didn’t record. What are the odds?
Literally everyone in this is terrible.— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) July 27, 2018
The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro:
I definitely believe Michael Cohen’s latest evidenceless accusations because he is a credible person who has no reason to inflate Trump’s supposed crimes to give himself leverage. /sarcasm/
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 27, 2018
This post has been edited for clarity, to reflect that not all of the conservative media figures mentioned are allies of Donald Trump.