Journalist says 'desperate' actors tell bombshell stories to media to influence 'end of race'

Veteran political journalist Mark Halperin warned of bombshell stories about either presidential candidate just before the election after The Atlantic published a controversial report about former President Trump on Tuesday.

The Atlantic article accuses Trump of disparaging a murdered Mexican-American army soldier while in office. However, several people involved in the story, including the fallen soldier's sister, denied that the report's claims were false.

Halperin addressed the controversial report on his livestreamed show “The Morning Meeting” on Wednesday, warning that there are currently “all sorts of things being thrown around” by journalists trying to discredit each candidate.

“Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic happened to publish his story two weeks before the election with allegations against Donald Trump, some of which were disputed for the first time and some of which had been disputed for some time. And that’s exactly what I was “It makes sense that all sorts of things are spread there. Maybe Jeffrey Goldberg just finished the story two weeks before the election,” he began.

“I know of a story that was presented to a major newspaper and to me and, for all I know, to many others, which I do not believe to be true. But if it were true, as I said yesterday, it would end Donald Trump's campaign, just as if the now thoroughly debunked allegations that American intelligence Russia made against Tim Walz were true, if that were true, it would end his election campaign finish.

WHITE HOUSE attacks 'false' Atlantic story about Trump insulting dead soldiers: 'What a shame!'

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waves at a campaign rally at the Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday, October 22, in Greensboro, North Carolina (AP/Alex Brandon)

“What we're seeing in recent days – this is the point I've been making – is that actors who want a certain outcome are appearing on social media and in pitches to reporters, and in the case of The Atlantic writes Jeffrey Goldberg themselves.” “They're trying to influence the outcome of the race because they're desperate to try to take out Comey,” he continued, referring to the former FBI director's decision to open the investigation into the FBI's private email server then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, days before the 2016 election.

Halperin made it clear that he would not delve deeper into the story he presented because he did not believe it was legitimate, but reiterated that these types of stories are offered to the media.

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“I’m not following the story any further. I don't think it's true. People at Mar-a-Lago, calm down. “I'm just saying that there are people out there pitching things and if it were true then it would end his campaign,” he said.

ATLANTIC ARTICLE COMPARING TRUMP TO 'HITLER, STALIN' TRIGGERS ONLINE CRITICISM FROM JOURNALISTS AND EXPERTS

US President Donald Trump speaks with Gloria Guillen (3rd from left), the mother of Vanessa Guillen, a Fort Hood soldier who was found dead after disappearing from Fort Hood, Texas, as well as her family and lawyer in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2020. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Goldberg's report in The Atlantic also claimed that Trump said: “I need the kind of generals Hitler had. People who were fiercely loyal to him, following orders,” quoting two unnamed sources who reportedly heard him say it at the White House.

A spokesman for Trump called the claim “absolutely false” and told Goldberg: “President Trump never said that.”

Goldberg was also the journalist behind the 2020 report The claim in 2018 that then-President Trump disparaged fallen soldiers buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris as “idiots” and that the country was “full of losers,” all based on anonymous sources based.

Donald Trump and Vanessa Guillen (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images; Sergio Flores/Getty Images)

Both Trump and White House officials strongly disputed Goldberg's reporting at the time.

The Atlantic did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Halperin's comments.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.

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