Trump and Pecker, birds of a feather
by digby
The Daily Beast is featuring a fascinating profile of David Pecker, the owner of AMI, the publisher of the National Enquirer. Its something:
In 2001, I was commissioned to write a profile of David Pecker, the CEO of American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s parent company. I spent the next few months writing and reporting—only to have the story spiked.
Today, Pecker is at the center of a half-dozen national conversations. About Jeff Bezos. About Stormy Daniels. About the Saudis. About Michael Cohen. And, of course, about Pecker’s friend, the President of the United States.
So I decided to dig back into my files for the old profile. The 18-year-old picture feels shockingly current. The wannabe-tough-guy swagger, the financial woes, the rage at the skyscraper elites—it’s all there. So are ‘catch and kill,’ the D-list celebrities, and the quest to cozy up to the famous and the powerful. It’s just in this telling, the biggest name is Kennedy, not Trump.
This is the man Trump called into his office in 2015 and said, “how can you help my campaign?” and Pecker then offered to help him with the legions who were sure to come forward to testify to his disgusting treatment of women.
This guy:
Talk to employees who have passed through the grist mill of the tabloid publisher American Media Inc., and the portrait of CEO David Pecker that emerges is a man who governs in part by fear and will do just about anything to make quarterly projections. Other character traits frequently mentioned: workaholic, paranoid, vain, dishonest, bully. Ego is always mentioned. Like many successful men, Pecker’s is oversized. “As big as the great outdoors,” quips a former AMI editor. Critics contend it’s an ego that hinders decision-making and frequently obfuscates the facts.
The gangster ethos is another recurring theme. Pecker may be a Jew from the Bronx, but he could pass for an Italian from Palermo. It’s no surprise his favorite film is The Godfather or that he has a penchant for bodyguards and $350 custom Brioni shirts. Delve deeper and it becomes apparent that this is not the usual media story. It reads more like a Mario Puzo novel: betrayal, guns, bomb threats, large wads of cash, and a good marinara sauce. It’s exactly the kind of story you’d expect to find in the tabloids.
Fourteen floors above Madison Avenue, David Pecker, the don of the tabloids, is holding court. Settling into his chair, he tosses off this nugget: “At 21, I had a piece.” He’s talking about his first gun. Such is the street swagger of David Pecker. “I worked at Price Waterhouse, but I couldn’t live on the salary. So I also had my own tax business. I used to go to a job site and carry $10,000 in cash for the payroll. The gun was for protection.”
Pecker appreciates a good firearm. He’s been an NRA member for the past 30 years, and has the card to prove it. When he lived in Greenwich, he was also a member of a private gun club, because there’s nothing like squeezing off a few clips on the weekend to unwind. When he moved the AMI offices to Florida, the gun permit was renewed, a fact that did not go unreported by the local press. In the wake of this unsettling news, a rumor was hatched among AMI employees that the new boss was packing heat.
This is not the usual media story. It reads more like a Mario Puzo novel: betrayal, guns, bomb threats, large wads of cash, and a good marinara sauce. It’s exactly the kind of story you’d expect to find in the tabloids.
Not everyone believed this, but not everyone disbelieved it either. “I wasn’t scared for my life or anything,” says one former AMI editor. “But it certainly is something that flashes in your mind, like ‘Holy shit! You have to be careful with this guy. He’s got a hair-trigger temper.’” One company insider swears the rumor is true, but that Pecker stopped carrying when the news about his Florida gun permit leaked out.That such outlandish gossip would be given even the slightest credence speaks volumes about the collective mindset of the AMI staff. When told of the gun rumor, Pecker seems genuinely shocked: “God! I can imagine now what kind of things people must be saying about me.” The next moment, though, he’s laughing, more amused than disturbed that his own staff harbor such grim thoughts. At the tabs, it might be better to be feared than loved.
This is Trump’s world.
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