Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor in chief, attacked the family of Vanessa Guillen after they came out against his latest story, which alleged that former President Donald Trump reacted poorly to the cost of Guillen’s funeral after offering to cover the expenses.
When the story was first published, Vanessa’s sister Mayra Guillen blasted the Atlantic for “exploiting [Vanessa’s] death for politics.” Mayra added that she had already voted for Trump.
Vanessa Guillen was killed by a soldier she worked with at Fort Hood in 2020. Her death sparked immense outcry because the military severely mishandled the investigation, giving the murder suspect the opportunity to take his own life before he could be taken into custody.
‘So, again, I understand the sensitivities around this, but …’
Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff at the time, insisted that Trump never said, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f***ing Mexican!” as Goldberg claimed.
When asked about the denials and criticisms of his story during an interview on CNN, Goldberg brushed aside the Guillen family’s statements.
“In terms of the — the sister, I understand why they’re hurt by — by this story, and I — I obviously feel very sorry, as we all do, for this family, but the fact remains when the family visited Donald Trump, as I note in the story, he said kind words and offered to pay for the funeral. Five months later, when the subject came up, he had very unkind things to say about the funeral, and I would note that he didn’t pay for the funeral,” Goldberg said.
“So, again, I understand the sensitivities around this, but the truth is the truth, and people in the meeting — getting people who had become somewhat inured to Donald Trump’s method of speaking were shocked by what was said, and — and that’s how I learned about it,” he continued.
“Yeah. And the detail about how, ultimately, he did not pay for the funeral is a story unto itself, even without the comments,” host Jake Tapper added.
“Not only did he misrepresent our conversation but he outright LIED in HIS sensational story. More importantly, he used and exploited my clients, and Vanessa Guillen’s murder … for cheap political gain,” Guillen family lawyer Natalie Khawam said about Goldberg. “I would like to also point out that the timing of this ‘story’ is quite suspicious, as this supposed conversation that Trump had would have occurred over 4 years ago! Why a story about it now?!”
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Politics