Donald Trump has become “obsessed” with the sexting scandal surrounding his new ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi, according to a report.
The former president even called up the 70-year-old Kennedy—who’s married to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines—to ask if the bombshell reports about him and the 31-year-old journalist were true, and if the relationship ever went beyond the sending of “demure” nudes, according to Puck News.
“[Kennedy] denied the whole thing to Trump,” a source with direct knowledge told the outlet. “He said he hardly knows her. He said he met her one time.”
Trump was also apparently close to making a public statement about the alleged digital dalliance, having “almost posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, ‘My condolences to Ryan Lizza…’” according to the Puck report. Lizza, a Politico journalist, ended his engagement to Nuzzi last month after learning of her relationship with Kennedy, according to Vanity Fair.
Trump apparently exercised more restraint than his adviser, Corey Lewandowski, who tweeted and then later deleted his own post sharing the Kennedy gossip.
Nuzzi had interviewed Trump for a piece published earlier this month which, in part, featured a detailed description of the GOP nominee’s ear bandaged up following the attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July.
Kennedy declined to comment on the relationship during a Fox News appearance this week
Jason Mendez/Getty Images
Olivia Nuzzi has been placed on leave from New York magazine
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
New York magazine put Nuzzi on leave after learning of her “personal” relationship with Kennedy, adding a note to the article saying that she had violated “the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosure.” The note adds that she would not have been allowed to continue covering the 2024 presidential campaign if the magazine had been aware of the relationship.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Nuzzi acknowledged some of her “communication” with a “former reporting subject turned personal.” She also said the “relationship was never physical” but she nevertheless should have disclosed it and regretted not having done so immediately.
Nuzzi previously worked for The Daily Beast.
This week, Kennedy declined to comment on reports of his relationship with Nuzzi when invited to do so on Fox News. “I never comment on those kind of stories,” he said. Hines, Kennedy’s wife, similarly ducked the question when asked about the scandal on Monday during her visit to Milan Fashion Week.
