MSNBC anchor Ari Melber slams Donald Trump Jr for denying involvement in father's business while testifying in NY fraud trial
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: 'The Beat' host Ari Melber called out the children of former president Donald Trump for concealing their involvement in Trump Org during the New York fraud trial as Trump Jr kicked off with his testimony.
Melber noted that while the first to testify, Trump Jr is departing from his previous publicly accepted involvement in the organization and its operations.
Ari Melber shifts the fraud trial in favor of Donald Trump, blames son Trump Jr
The MSNBC host traced the involvement of different executives in the main workings of the Trump Org. Melber pointed out that while Trump might be at the center of the fraud trial, it was his children who were looking over the business.
"This is also the first time a Trump family member has actually been held to account, publicly asked under oath about how this business even works," the host said.
Melber then continued in defense of the former president saying, "And remember, there's many things that are unique and different about Donald Trump. Politically, there were things that are different about Trump that his fans like, that were not at the time illegal. He took the position that he could continue to run his giant company that basically wasn't a problem while he was president. And there's no actual specific law against that."
"There's many legal questions and conflicts of interest and avenues for corruption," he clarified, "But he basically said, you may remember when he began his Presidential odyssey in '17, 'Well, I wanna keep the company, right, but I'm gonna step back and the kids, the adult children executives are going to be dealing with the day-to-day'."
The host added, "Since Trump became president, Donald Jr was deeply involved, Attorney General [Colleen Faherty] noting he oversees the property portfolio and is involved in all aspects of property development. And this fraud suit says that in their role these children were intimately involved in the company's business operations."
Ari Melber calls out differences in public accounts of Trump children
Melber later called out that Trump's children have publicly noted their involvement in his business in the past and how they are moving forward in the takeover in various interviews and speeches.
"This is where there's that thing where on the one hand you have the allegations of fraud, the exaggerations, the alleged lies and then, on the other hand, there's a certain amount of confessing going on because this is a very publicity-oriented PR family," the host said.
"So, they haven't exactly been hiding the fact that they are doing all this," he continued, "If they are doing all this, well, they are the ones holding the bag because the buck stops with the guy who owns the place, Donald Trump, and the adult executives who have been so vocal about their roles."
