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Former TV host Billy Bush alleged ABC News had an entire “division” dedicated to “get” Donald Trump during the 2016 election.
“ABC News had a division. They had a division dedicated with 75 people in it — because I knew the guy who ran the division, which was dedicated to basically getting him,” Bush said on Thursday’s installment of the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast.
Bush, who was swept up in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape that nearly derailed Trump’s first presidential campaign, recalled the last meeting he had with then-NBC News chairman Andy Lack before Bush was ousted at the Peacock network.
SAGE STEELE, BILLY BUSH OPEN UP ABOUT INFAMOUS SPLITS FROM ESPN, NBC ON ‘HANG OUT WITH SEAN HANNITY’ PODCAST
“I said, ‘Andy, I understand what you want to do with this [the “Access Hollywood” footage] and what you want to weaponize this because there’s a debate on Sunday night, the second debate with Hillary and Donald,'” Bush said. “And sure enough, it was the first question to come out of Anderson Cooper’s mouth. He was the moderator.”
SAGE STEELE, BILLY BUSH OPEN UP ABOUT INFAMOUS SPLITS WITH ESPN, NBC ON ‘HANG OUT WITH SEAN HANNITY’ PODCAST
“This was it! This was – there has always been an ‘it’ to get Trump, but this was definitely it at the time,” he continued. “But I said, ‘Look, it’s wrong. I understand that you’ve got something here that you think is relevant, but it’s wrong. I mean, I chit-chat with Sean Hannity, you know, 15 minutes before we sit down for an interview. The camera happens to be rolling. Whatever we talk about is not usable… that can’t be [weaponized] but this was a special circumstance because of who was running and how they felt about him.”
When asked for comment, Bush declined to identify who allegedly ran the alleged anti-Trump division at ABC News but suggested the person no longer works at the network. ABC News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Disney-owned network has had a long, contentious relationship with Trump. In 2017, ABC News was forced to retract a report alleging that fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn would testify that Trump had ordered him to make contact with Russians about foreign policy while Trump was still a candidate. The report raised the specter of Trump’s impeachment and sent the stock market plummeting. Brian Ross, the chief investigative correspondent behind the false report, was later forced out of the network.
In December 2024, just weeks before Trump was sworn into office for his second term, ABC News paid a $16 million settlement to Trump after he filed a defamation lawsuit earlier in the year for comments made by “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Stephanopoulos had falsely claimed that Trump was “found liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll case when, in fact, a civil jury ruled he was liable for “sexual abuse.” ABC News issued an apology as part of the settlement, which was reportedly approved by then-Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Last year, longtime ABC News correspondent Terry Moran was fired for attacking Trump and White House aide Stephen Miller on social media.
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