UPDATE: Newsweek reports that Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said there is “no truth” to the report that the campaign may hire Morris.
ORIGINAL: New York writer Gabriel Sherman reported that the Trump campaign “is in discussions with Dick Morris, the former Clinton adviser turned Clinton nemesis, about joining the campaign as a strategist.”
Morris is an ethically challenged pundit who is infamous for his erroneous political forecasts. He recently joined the National Enquirer as its chief political correspondent.
His political predictions include claiming Mitt Romney would win the 2012 election in a “landslide”; it’s “very possible” President Obama would drop out of the 2012 race; the 2008 election would feature Condi Rice vs. Hillary Clinton; Clinton would drop out of her 2006 U.S. Senate bid because she’s afraid of challenger Jeanine Pirro (Pirro dropped out amid a poll showing her losing by over 30 points); Trump is “going to run” for president in 2012 and “he could beat Obama”; and Rick Lazio would defeat Clinton in the 2000 Senate race (he lost by double digits).
Morris’ contract was not renewed by Fox News in early 2013. Morris’ Fox career featured a staggering number of ethical problems, with the pundit regularly shilling for various candidates and causes that were paying him money without disclosing the conflict of interest to viewers. Morris’ unethical behavior was so bad that Fox News -- well-known for its disregard for journalistic standards -- once publicly reprimanded Morris after he attempted to auction off a Fox News studio tour to benefit a local Republican Party group.
Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik previously told Media Matters that Morris is a “sleazy operative” and asked, “Is there anybody in the media you can think of who has less of an ethical compass?”
Morris also has a long history of outrageous, conspiratorial, and false commentary -- a perfect fit for the Trump campaign.
He once suggested the killing of federal agents is justified.
Morris claimed Obama's “failure” to “produce” his birth certificate when he declared his candidacy “attracted legitimate attention.”
Sherman quotes an anonymous “senior Trump adviser” saying of Morris, “Some of the most important info about the Clintons is 20 years old.” But like so much of his punditry, Morris’ supposed inside information on the machinations of the Clinton administration has proved faulty.
In 2010, Morris invented then retracted a story that President Clinton reappointed Attorney General Janet Reno so she wouldn't “turn on” him over the Waco, TX, compound raid. He has also pushed conspiracies about the Obama administration's purported plans to impose global government on the country through the United Nations (this has not happened).
When a woman accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment during the 2012 presidential primary, Morris responded: “This woman has been unemployed for 13 years, and this is apparently payday. ... I look forward to her spread in Playboy."
Many of Morris’ former Fox News colleagues have mocked or rebuked Morris over the years, calling him “often wrong,” a self-promoter, and “creepy.”
Trump ally Roger Stone previously said “raging asshole” Morris has “no credibility,” “is full of shit,” “would work for Hitler if it paid,” and should be shot. Recently Stone has flip-flopped, and now claims Morris is “a very, very bright guy” who is “largely credible” because of his anti-Clinton work.