Donald Trump launched an attack on MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Twitter Thursday morning after O'Donnell retracted a story Wednesday night in which he said Russian oligarchs co-signed on Trump loans.
Tweeted Trump: “Crazy Lawrence O'Donnell, who has been calling me wrong from even before I announced my run for the Presidency, even being previously forced by NBC to apologize, which he did while crying, for things he said about me & The Apprentice, was again forced to apologize, this time………for the most ridiculous claim of all, that Russia, Russia, Russia, or Russian oligarchs, co-signed loan documents for me, a guarantee. Totally false, as is virtually everything else he, and much of the rest of the LameStream Media, has said about me for years. ALL APOLOGIZE! The totally inaccurate reporting by Lawrence O'Donnell, for which he has been forced by NBC to apologize, is NO DIFFERENT than the horrible, corrupt and fraudulent Fake News that I (and many millions of GREAT supporters) have had to put up with for years. So bad for the USA!”
There is no evidence that O'Donnell was “forced” to apologize. MSNBC has not commented on O'Donnell's report.
The Hill reports: “The on-air statements from O'Donnell came just hours after an attorney for Trump sent a letter to NBC Universal demanding an apology and retraction. Charles Harder said in the letter that O'Donnell's report about Trump's alleged banking ties were false and defamatory. The previous night, O'Donnell had presented potentially significant information regarding the president's tax returns and his alleged ties to Russia.”
Said O'Donnell to Maddow on his show the previous night: “I stress ‘if true,' because this is a single source who has told me that Deutsche Bank obtained tax returns. This single source close to Deutsche Bank has told me that Donald Trump's loan documents there show that he has co-signers. That's how he was able to obtain those loans and that the co-signers are Russian oligarchs. That would explain every kind word Donald Trump has ever said about Russia and Vladimir Putin. I stress the ‘if true.'”
