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Brzezinski Tosses Wolff After Pressing Author on Haley Rumor

A tense interview with “Fire and Fury” author Michael Wolff was cut short Thursday on “Morning Joe” after host Mika Brzezinski pressed Wolff on his role in fueling rumors that President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley had an affair.Brzezinski and her co-hosts asked Wolff if he regretted “inferring anything” in his book about Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley has rejected the insinuation, calling such speculation “disgusting” rumors.  5 Things: What Yellen’s Fed Tenure Will Be Remembered For “I didn’t infer anything about Nikki Haley,” Wolff replied, adding that he only suggested “people around the president” believe he is involved with “various” women whom he did not identify.The idea of a Trump-Haley affair stems from Wolff’s Jan. 19 appearance on “Real Time With Bill Maher,” where Wolff hinted that a big part of his story went unwritten — only because he didn’t have the “ultimate proof.” Trump Was Sent ‘Secretly Altered’ Russia Memo: Dem. Rep. “I didn’t have the blue dress,” Wolff told Maher, referring to the infamous White House liaison between former President Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky. Though he couldn’t include the detail in his book, Wolff insisted he was personally “absolutely sure” of Trump’s current affair.“You just have to read between the lines” to determine the woman’s identity, Wolff said, pointing “toward the end of the book.” GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy Says He Won’t Seek Re-Election Readers were quick to follow Wolff’s clues on social media, zeroing in on lines that described Haley as being a “particular focus” of the president and spending “a notable amount of private time” on Air Force One.The “Morning Joe” crew challenged Wolff on those connections, calling him “irresponsible” for going after Haley “without any evidence.”Wolff held that he never specifically accused Haley of having an affair with Trump — which he never did. But he also didn’t deny the unsubstantiated storyline.After Haley rejected the rumors and called them “disgusting” and “offensive,” Wolff insisted in a separate interview that the ambassador had “embraced” the alleged relationship.“I’m going to go as far as to say that you might be having a fun time playing a little game dancing around this, but you’re slurring a woman and it’s disgraceful,” Brzezinski told Wolff on “Morning Joe.”“[Haley] has been accused of nothing,” Wolff asserted again. “She has decided to deny what she has not been accused of. … Certainly, I didn’t accuse her of this.”After a heated back-and-forth, Brzezinski interjected to relieve Wolff of his appearance on the show where she said people “don’t B.S.”“You don’t get it, and you don’t get what we’re talking about. I’m sorry, this is awkward. You’re on the set with us, but you’re done,” Brzezinski concluded before hurrying the crew to a commercial break.Wolff later took to Twitter to defend himself.”My bad, the President is right about Mika,” he wrote.He did not specify what he meant, but Trump publicly insulted Brzezinski on Twitter back in June by criticizing her appearance. “To be invited on a show with the purpose of being thrown off…is the new television. In other words, I had to say what Mika wanted me to say, or else…the hook!” Wolff said.Wolff again insisted Haley has been accused of nothing.Brzezinski responded to Thursday’s episode by sharing a tweet from CBS News correspondent Bianna Golodyga, who wrote that “personally attacking fellow journalists is not ok.” “Thank you,” Brzezinski wrote.A representative for “Morning Joe” declined to comment. Photo Credit: Getty Images, Files This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego

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