MSNBC hosts allege White House threats to change coverage

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The fight between US President Donald Trump and MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski has accelerated after the two hosts slammed Trump as “not mentally equipped to continue watching our show.”

The dispute started with Scarborough’s claim on Friday's edition of “Morning Joe”, that a Trump adviser tried to blackmail him for positive coverage of the president.

Scarborough said that White House staffers allegedly warned him about an unflattering article about him and Brzezinski which was due to published in the National Enquirer. They went on to say that Trump could have the story pulled if Scarborough called the president to apologize for negative coverage of the administration.

Scarborough and Brzezinski described the phone call in a Washington Post column, saying “We ignored their desperate pleas.”

Scarborough and Brzezinski are engaged and the article published in early June in the National Enquirer was about their past marriages and the start of their relationship.

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A White House official then told Fox News that the call was actually made by Scarborough to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Scarborough allegedly asked if Kushner could do anything about the article given Trump’s friendship with David Pecker, chief executive of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media.

Kushner then reportedly talked to the president who was angry about Scarborough’s negative coverage. Kushner said, “Well, then maybe you should apologize”, according to an anonymous White House source, who added that there was no mention of blackmail in the conversation.

The White House has not commented publicly on the spat, although Trump weighed in on Twitter, indicating that he heard what Scarborough said on TV and denied it.

“I said no! Bad show.” Trump tweeted.

Scarborough replied saying he had proof of threats from the White House earlier this year, including a “text from your top aides and phone records.”

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But on Friday, Nation Enquirer editor Dylan Howard denied being informed of any discussions between the White House and Scarborough and Brzezinski about the story.

“At the beginning of June we accurately reported a story that recounted the relationship between Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the truth of which is not in dispute," Howard said in a statement on the magazine's website.