With ‘Russiagate’ done and dusted, and the ‘Ukrainegate’ impeachment a flop, some intrepid journalists have scraped the bottom of the barrel and come up with a new Trump family scandal: ‘Legogate.’
Speaking to the Republican National Convention on Thursday, the US president’s daughter and advisor, Ivanka Trump, shared a personal anecdote about moving to Washington DC with her family. “My son Joseph promptly built Grandpa a Lego replica of the White House. The president still displays it on the mantel in the Oval Office and shows it to world leaders, just so they know he has the greatest grandchildren on Earth,” she said.
An innocuous story on the surface, but WNYC reporter and Peabody Award recipient Andrea Bernstein smelled a rat. “OMG,” she tweeted, “She told the same story about herself once, building a lego Trump Tower. The story was made up.”
OMG, Ivanka is telling a story about her son Joseph building a lego model of the White House. She told the same story about herself once, building a lego Trump Tower.
— Andrea Bernstein (@AndreaWNYC) August 28, 2020
The story was made up.
AMERICAN OLIGARCHS, P 176 pic.twitter.com/hwGR2q43Q1
Bernstein once wrote a book about the Trump family, and included a passage on how Ivanka apparently lied about building a model of Trump Tower for her father. After hearing Ivanka tell the repackaged story, Bernstein asked the White House on Thursday “if three-year old Joseph indeed built it of his own initiative, or if he had assistance.”
Bernstein was roundly mocked on Twitter for her “hard-hitting investigative journalism.”
Journalism is one of the most difficult but essential jobs in world history https://t.co/jYBExN4OMc
— Second City Bureaucrat (@CityBureaucrat) August 28, 2020
Imagine spending your professional time digging into whether a kid built a lego house. https://t.co/aFlCOhKSUy
— Joe Gierut (@Joe_Gierut) August 28, 2020
Thankfully, we have journalists to get us all of the critical information we need. What would we do without them? ????♀️????♀️???????? https://t.co/GtODx79ZmH
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) August 28, 2020
Ridiculed as she was, Bernstein wasn’t the only journalist trying to get to the bottom of ‘Legogate.’ The Guardian investigated the story and concluded that there is indeed “photographic evidence” of a Lego model of the White House in President Trump’s office, but it doesn’t resemble the official Lego replica of the building. Furthermore, the Guardian reported, it doesn’t feature Melania Trump’s remodelled rose garden.
I absolutely cannot believe that reporters are really trying to cast doubt on the validity of a 6 year old’s gift to his grandfather.
— Carolina Hurley (@CLH45) August 28, 2020
Be better. https://t.co/t3qIh9rWTo pic.twitter.com/uL42qJjpg1
Despite their gum-flapping, no journalist involved has called for Ivanka’s resignation, or an investigation into little Joseph’s Lego-building career. Likewise, it is still unknown whether the three-year-old received any Russian assistance in constructing the model. Stay tuned for more information, as America’s best journalists are on the case.
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