President-elect Donald Trump was allegedly given questions in advance of a 2024 town hall discussion on Fox News, according to a new book from Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt.
The questions in question were sent from “a person inside” Fox News to a “senior Trump aide” a half hour before the town hall — which took place in Iowa in January 2024 and was moderated by Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier — according to Isenstadt.
“Holy s–t, the team thought. They were images of all the questions Trump would be asked and the planned follow-ups, down to the exact wording. Jackpot. This was like a student getting a peek at the test before the exam started,” Isenstadt wrote in his upcoming book, per an excerpt shared with CNN on Wednesday.
In particular, Trump was “pissed” when he heard the hosts were going to ask if he planned on divesting from his businesses if he won the 2024 election — as such, Trump’s team “workshopped answers” based on the questions provided by the insider, Isenstadt noted.
Fox News, in a statement shared with TheWrap, said the company was looking into the claims: “While we do not have any evidence of this occurring, and Alex Isenstadt has conveniently refused to release the images for fact checking, we take these matters very seriously and plan to investigate should there prove to be a breach within the network.”
A source familiar with the inner workings of the network told TheWrap “if there was a breach, it was not from Bret or Martha or the top editorial levels of the network.” The source added, “There is a sophisticated and extensive digital footprint of all editorial content.”
Isenstadt’s book, “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” said Trump was “peeved” with Fox News at the time. But since he was “golf buddies” with Baier, the author explained that Trump agreed to do the interview.
A Fox News spokesperson also pushed back on Isenstadt’s characterization of the Trump-Baier relationship, saying the two had only played golf a handful of times together over the past decade.
“Revenge” is set to be published in March.
