The Daily Beast is under fire after its fake news story on President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons — Don Jr. and Eric Trump — supposedly stiffing a local pub in Ireland.
The two visited the Igoe Inn Bar & Restaurant during their father’s recent visit to Western Europe. They made an appearance at the pub during the brief stay and ordered a round of drinks for locals. According to reports, they even “helped out by pulling the pints.”
“They were so lovely and down to earth and gave a great hello to everyone,” the pub’s owner Caroline Kennedy said, according to the Irish Mirror. “I said, ‘Come on lads you have to come in and pull a drink’ so they did.”
She had nothing but glowing things to say about the two, describing them as “so nice.”
“They thanked everyone for their support and for coming out to meet them and said there was a drink for everyone in the house and it was their small gesture,” she said.
Toward the end of the Mirror’s story, Kennedy explained that the establishment was not at all concerned about the tab, reiterating the assurance that it would be taken care of.
“I don’t think we’ve to worry about getting paid for that,” she said. “I don’t think they carry cash. We were told it’d be all sorted later so there’s no problem.”
“We have the world press in our village and we are being zoomed in around the world and you couldn’t buy that publicity,” she added.
Enter the Daily Beast, which published a misleading report over the weekend titled, “Eric and Donald Trump Jr. Still Have Not Paid Irish Bar Tab.”
This, of course, is patently false. The Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in the area paid the tab in its entirety, as locals expected.
The pub, incensed by the false report, released a statement on the Daily Beast’s deliberate misrepresentation.
“We have just had the most fantastic week in Doonbeg with the visit of the Trump family,” the statement read. “I would like to clarify that The Igoe Inn was paid in full for the round of drinks that Eric & Don bought for our customers. We appreciate their business.”
The Daily Beast did not issue an outright apology, instead adding, “UPDATE: The original version of this item said that the pub had not been paid at all. We regret the error” to the bottom of the original post.
“An item in our Cheat Sheet, quoting a local Irish paper, said that Eric and Donald Jr. Trump had not paid their bill at a local pub,” the publication tweeted. “In fact, a nearby Trump golf club did later reimburse the bar. The item has been updated, and we regret the error.”
Republican strategist Arthur Schwartz — who last cycle hosted dozens of fundraisers for GOP candidates, raised millions of dollars, and, according to FEC records, personally donated hundreds of thousands of dollars — called out the publication for issuing what amounted to a non-apology apology.
It does not appear that the Daily Beast even bothered to reach out to Trump Jr.’s team for confirmation or clarification prior to their initial report. This remains a point of contention.
Circumstances only worsened after the Daily Beast updated the post with a deliberately vague headline, crediting a seemingly random “golf course” with covering the tab. Of course, it was not just any golf course. It was Trump’s golf course — the same golf course that employs hundreds in the area.
At that point, Schwartz switched gears and issued a warning to GOP lawmakers specifically: Help the Daily Beast, and find yourself in serious campaign finance trouble — No campaigning. No fundraising. No help.
“Note to @HouseGOP and @SenateGOP: if any of you or your staff help anyone at @thedailybeast with a story before they issue an apology for this disgusting smear, don’t bother reaching out for fundraising help. Because it won’t happen,” he tweeted.
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