CNN’s Daniel Dale Rattles Off Trump Lies About People ‘Begging’ Him For Stuff

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

CNN’s Daniel Dale ticked off examples of one of President Donald Trump’s oft-repeated lies Friday — claiming notable figures “begged” him for favors.

Dale’s article came in the aftermath of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rebuke, after Trump told an Italian journalist at the G7 summit, “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so ​badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

Meloni declared in a statement, “There is one thing he should remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

“We don’t know for certain who is telling the truth here,” Dale wrote on CNN.com. “What we can say is that if Trump did make up the story, nobody should be shocked. The president has a years-long history of telling false or highly dubious tales about people having supposedly begged him for things.”

Dale wrote that Trump particularly enjoyed making these claims about one-time supporters who defied him in some way. “It’s his version of the old ‘you can’t fire me, I quit’ face-saving dominance play,” Dale wrote.

In an example from 2016, Trump claimed that Republican operative Cheri Jacobus, “Begged my people for a job. Turned her down twice and she went hostile.”

Jacobus provided proof, however, that Trump’s campaign team actually reached out to her about working for him.

In another example from the same year, Trump claimed that conservative activist Brent Bozell came to his office, “begging for money like a dog.”

Bozell hit back in a 2019 book, writing, “I had not gone to him for money; he’d invited me for lunch to discuss his potential campaign. I hadn’t groveled. I hadn’t even asked for money. He’d offered it.” Bozell went on to become Trump’s US ambassador to South Africa.

Trump claimed in 2017 that Republican “Senator Bob Corker ‘begged’ me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said ‘NO’ and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement).” Corker’s office vehemently disagreed, saying Trump had repeatedly encouraged the senator to run again — and did offer his endorsement.

In other examples, like with former FBI Director James Comey and TV host John Oliver, Trump may not have used the word “begged,” but the sentiment was the same.

After Trump claimed that Oliver had “had his people call to ask me to be on his very boring and low rated show” but that “I said ‘NO THANKS’ Waste of time & energy!” Oliver hit back: “It was a total lie. A meaningless lie. What kind of moron would lie about something this pathetic?”

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