Mary Trump stands by the claim she made in her new book that her uncle, President Trump, paid someone to take the SAT exam for him.
In her book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, Trump wrote that someone named Joe Shapiro, whom she describes as a “smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker,” was paid “well” to take the test, helping Trump get into the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate.
In her first interview since being released from a gag order, Trump dismissed claims that this was untrue, referring to sources close to the president who told her about Joe Shapiro and said she was “confident” her claim is accurate.
Pres. Trump “is utterly incapable of leading this country, and it’s dangerous to allow him to do so,” Mary Trump says in an exclusive interview with @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/yXf2Wj1ODT pic.twitter.com/BAJzSQjkEr
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 15, 2020
“I’ve been told this by people in my family,” she told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired on Wednesday. “I am absolutely confident that it’s true. I’m happy to finally be able to speak about it.”
Mary Trump specifically pushed back on speculation that the Joe Shapiro mentioned in her book was the late president’s friend and husband of ESPN tennis analyst Pam Shriver, who denied he took the SAT exam for the president.
“It was not the Joe Shapiro that people have been focusing on,” Mary Trump said, adding that she felt bad about Shriver being boosted into the spotlight by the controversy. “I feel terrible that she’s been subjected to this. Honestly, I wish I could’ve said something sooner.”
When asked if she could prove the claim, Trump said she could not. But, Trump stressed, she is still 100% certain of its credibility.
“I’m counting on people I trust who told me this story. So, in terms of documentation, no, I can’t prove it. But I can certainly say with 100% certainty that I was told this story by a source very close to Donald,” she said.
The White House has denied the claim in addition to much of the material in the book.
“It’s ridiculous, absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters last week. “Have yet to see the book, but it is a book of falsehoods.”
