In the Sunday edition of The New York Times, the paper ran a cover story about Donald Trump that is now being called a “hit piece” by one of the women interviewed. Rowanne Brewer Lane claims the Times twisted her story in order paint Trump negatively.
During their evening newscasts, both CBS and NBC ignored the story and instead chose to cover other topics such as the opioid epidemic America and TSA incompetence. In contrast, ABC decided to dive on into the story and give it more airtime.
ABC reporter Cecilia Vega paraphrased Brewer Lane’s story published in The New York Times, “It said when she met the billionaire, Trump immediately took her into a room at his Mar-a-Lago estate, asked her to put on a swimsuit and then paraded her before a crowd.” “The Times portrayed the incident as degrading, but Brewer Lane, who went on to date Trump, says it wasn't,” Vega continued.
Vega sat down and interviewed Brewer Lane to get her side of the story:
I think they had an agenda with that one, because as many times as I asked and as many times as they promised that it was not a hit piece, clearly it was. He's very much a gentleman. And he's polite, he's thoughtful, he's a good listener.
“The Times is standing by its reporting, saying Brewer Lane was quoted fairly, accurately and at length,” Vega reported, “The story quoted other women, too.” The ABC reporter repeated a story told by a former Miss Utah who says Trump once introduced himself to her and then kissed her on the lips, the woman recalled that it was “gross.”
In Univision’s report about the Times article, they altogether failed to report that Brewer Lane has spoken out about her words being twisted by the paper. Instead they allowed Alicia Machado, winner of the 1996 Miss Universe competition to ramble on about her experience working for Trump:
I’ve been saying for 20 years that he’s a rat. What happens is that 20 years ago I was only 18 and people used to say I was a rebellious girl. Now that’s not true, I am a full-fledged woman and I keep what I say. I still think he’s a rat. He was my boss for a year!
Telemundo also ran a story about this, and reported that most of the women in the article claimed “he made them feel like a sexual object.” Although they did mention Brewer Lane’s recent comments, the brief itself was roughly 28 seconds.
Transcript below:
ABC
World News Tonight with David Muir
May 16, 2016
6:31:16 PM Eastern
DAVID MUIR: Good evening. And it's great to have you with us here on a Monday night. And we begin with the race for the White House. And Donald Trump tonight, saying he has exposed a New York Times report on his relationship with women as a, quote, “fraud.” A former model is now coming forward, right here tonight. The article, a front page report in the Times. Looked at Trump's treatment of women. One woman describing his behavior as “gross,” another as “immature.” Others, though, saying he promoted women and give them opportunities. ABC's Cecilia Vega with one of those women, now speaking out, saying the newspaper promised her it would not be a hit piece.
[Cuts to video]
CECILIA VEGA: The former model quoted in a front page New York Times investigation into Donald Trump's relationships with women is, tonight, coming to his defense. Rowanne Brewer Lane now denouncing the story. It said when she met the billionaire, Trump immediately took her into a room at his Mar-a-Lago estate, asked her to put on a swimsuit and then paraded her before a crowd.
ROWANNE BREWER LANE: I think they had an agenda with that one, because as many times as I asked and as many times as they promised that it was not a hit piece, clearly it was.
VEGA: The Times portrayed the incident as degrading, but Brewer Lane, who went on to date Trump, says it wasn't.
BREWER LANE: He's very much a gentleman. And he's polite, he's thoughtful, he's a good listener.
VEGA: Trump today tweeting, "We have exposed the article as a fraud." But the Times is standing by its reporting, saying Brewer Lane was quoted fairly, accurately and at length. The story quoted other women, too.
ANNOUNCER: Miss. Utah!
VEGA: Including a former Miss Utah, who told the paper Trump introduced himself and kissed her on the lips. She said it was not an isolated incident and called it “gross.”
...
UNIVISION
NOTICIERO UNIVISION
May 16, 2016
6:36:16 PM EasternARANTXA LOIZAGA, HOST, UNIVISION: Donald Trump said on Twitter that the media is dishonest. He wrote it after the New York Times published an article with interviews of the women who have known him. Some of them spoke well of the Republican presidential candidate, others criticized him. From New York, Blanca Rosa Vilches brings us the controversy around Trump and his relationship with women.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: A new front of controversy for Donald Trump’s campaign. Public insults to women and obscure cases of harassment, according to an investigation by the daily New York Times. The attitude by the Republican candidate towards women in private has been highly questionable for decades…
DONALD TRUMP, PRESUMPTIVE GOP NOMINEE: [At a rally] I respect women.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: And contradicts his affirmation that he respects them. Miss Utah [from Miss USA, 1997] says that Trump kissed her on the lips, when he had just met her, something that she labeled as “repugnant”. Venezuelan Alicia Machado, Miss Universe in 1996, was one of the 12 women interviewed by the journalists that investigated the story.
ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: I’ve been saying for 20 years that he’s a rat. What happens is that 20 years ago I was only 18 and people used to say I was a rebellious girl. Now that’s not true, I am a full-fledged woman and I keep what I say. I still think he’s a rat. He was my boss for a year!
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: She says that without her permission, Trump made her stand on a scale at a press conference and humiliated her publically for being overweight.
ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: Don’t underestimate Trump. Don’t underestimate him, because he is not successful for being stupid.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: In his Twitter account, Trump called it a “witch hunt”, and accused the authors of the article of not interviewing the women that he helped. And he also asks why the New York Times does not write the real story about the Clintons and women.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: [Translating comments by Megan Twohey, co-author of NYT article] “We spoke to Donald Trump for an hour, and we gave his account at all times”, say the authors.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: Donald Trump’s popularity with women has never been his strong suit in this presidential campaign. So much that more than half of women of his own party are against him. The Chairman of the GOP defended him.
REINCE PRIEBUS, GOP CHAIRMAN: People just don’t care…
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: [Translating Priebus] “People just don’t care what these kinds of articles say.”
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: On the street, people don’t agree with him.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN ON THE STREET: The way that he has been expressing himself about women seems very incorrect.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: Alicia Machado says she has a message for voters.
ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: Don’t underestimate him, because he is not successful for being stupid. He is a very intelligent, grim person.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHES, REPORTER, UNIVISION: Time will tell.
...
TELEMUNDO
NOTICIERO TELEMUNDO
May 16, 2016
6:37:19 PM EasternFELICIDAD AVELEYRA, HOST, TELEMUNDO: One of the women cited by an article from the New York Times that cites Donald Trump’s treatment of women now says that the article misinterpreted her statements. Rowanne Lane said in an interview with MSNBC that she has nothing negative to say about the mogul, and that the publication was not fair to either one of them [referring to her and Trump]. The article assures having interviewed 50 women that have worked with Trump, and many of them said that at one moment, he made them feel like a sexual object.
