New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell called on supermarkets to stop selling the National Enquirer in light of recent allegations against the tabloid.
Mr. Pacrell made his public plea Monday in a letter to heads to five of the biggest supermarket chains — Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, and Food Lion.
“Recent events make clear that the tabloid is a purveyor of fabricated news and possibly a vehicle in furtherance of illegal extortion, blackmail, and other crimes. In the interest of your millions of customers this tabloid should be removed from all your store shelves,” he wrote.
He likened the controversial tabloid to “contaminated” food and accused it of purposefully spreading fake news to consumers.
“Misinformation makes our society sick and the National Enquirer tabloid is a primary purveyor of it,” he wrote.
The Democratic congressman argued the boycott would not violate the newspaper’s First Amendment rights since it would not impede on its ability to publish.
The National Enquirer came under scrutiny from federal investigators looking into its connections to the Trump campaign. It was revealed that the paper coordinated with Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, to cover up allegations about Mr. Trump’s past affairs.
Recently, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos accused operatives from American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s publisher, of attempting to blackmail him into endorsing their stories.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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