Sep 6, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump hit with devastating book barrage

Michael Cohen.

Michael Cohen. Photo: Yana Paskova/Getty Images

Never before has a sitting president been hit by so many blistering books, so many times, in a one-month period. 

Why it matters: President Trump's niece and his former fixer paint a devastating portrait of a corrupt, racist, dishonest commander in chief, just two months before the election. Michael Schmidt, a top N.Y. Times investigative reporter, begins with a quote from "King Lear" in his new book reporting that Trump's Russia ties have never been fully investigated.

What's next: Bob Woodward, armed with a reported 17 interviews with Trump himself, will be out Sept. 15 with "Rage," which Trump is already attacking.

The latest: Michael Cohen — the longtime fixer who used to instantly put reporters on the phone with Trump — writes in "Disloyal," out Tuesday, that Trump admired Vladimir Putin because he "had the balls to take over an entire nation and run it like it was his personal company."

  • "I will never get the Hispanic vote,” Cohen quotes Trump as saying, per AP, which obtained an early copy. "Like the blacks, they’re too stupid to vote for Trump. They’re not my people."

The White House calls the book "fan fiction," saying in a statement that Cohen "readily admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales."

  • "It’s unfortunate that the media is exploiting this sad and desperate man to attack President Trump."
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