Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s program last night railed against the alleged family corruption of the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. And to do so, she brought on a special guest: Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump — who in turn made a variety of false claims about his own family’s purported ethical purity.
“The swampiness of the Bidens just reminds folks why they elected Trump in the first place — to drain the swamp. And that’s ‘The Angle,’” Ingraham said, followed by a seamless transition. “Joining me now is Eric Trump, the president’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization.”
“The difference between us and Hunter is when my father became commander in chief of this country, we got out of all international business, right? When his father became vice president of the United States, he got into international business. That's the difference,” Eric Trump said. “I don't think there will ever be, Laura, a president who has sacrificed so much of his wealth, made so many personal sacrifices as my father. My father got into politics to drain the swamp, to stop this nonsense from happening, exactly what you see here because it's rampant.”
The next morning, on the October 16 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Ainsley Earhardt stated that Eric Trump “had a really good point” there. Co-host Steve Doocy added, “Clearly, there’s a double standard when it comes to that. But we’ve heard about the hypocrisy before.”
This is, however, an abject lie — and all a person has to do is look at reports written up in just the last month to see it.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week, under the headline “Trump’s children take in millions overseas as president slams Biden’s son”:
GQ has a roundup of activities by Trump’s adult children, plus son-in-law Jared Kushner, to advance their own business interests both at home and abroad. Ivanka Trump has been building up a portfolio of trademarks in China, for example. And here is Eric Trump himself, in late September, tweeting about an expansion of their golf resort in Scotland:
And from Forbes, there’s a report on Don Jr. and Eric building up cash by selling off Trump properties — including to buyers who themselves clearly deal in international influence:
Eric Trump made another false claim, as well: “My father has never taken a penny from the U.S. government. In fact, he's only done the exact opposite, he’s given up a ton of money in taxes to the U.S. government. He’s never made a penny; he doesn't even take a salary.”
Yet again, this is easily disprovable. Just recently, Trump suggested Vice President Mike Pence stay at a Trump resort in Ireland, the bill for which was covered by the U.S. government.
Trump has also been notorious for his golf outings — many of them at his own properties. Earlier this year, HuffPost reported that these trips had already cost taxpayers $102 million in just two-and-a-half years, in security and travel expenses.
