An ally of President Donald Trump’s was left mortified after journalist Tara Palmeri was thrown out of the RNC midterm convention in Texas last week after asking questions about Jeffrey Epstein — and threatened with arrest should she return.
“I don’t know how anyone takes the party seriously at this point,” the Trump ally told Palmeri, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Kicking you out is not only bad policy, but makes the tribalism look so entrenched that it’s frankly getting indefensible for anyone with a tinge of ethics.”
An investigative journalist, Palmeri was credentialed to cover the convention in Dallas, Texas, and was accompanied by Epstein survivors when she interviewed congressional GOP nominee Robert Burke of Massachusetts about Epstein, as well as the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein-related files.
Despite describing the interview as “friendly,” she was soon approached by three security guards who revoked her credentials and asked her to leave the venue, threatening to have her arrested should she return.
In a new report about the incident published on her Substack Sunday, Palmeri revealed that a number of prominent Republicans believed she was treated unfairly.
“Several Republicans with ties to the White House and the administration did contact me privately,” Palmeri wrote. “Some said they thought it was an overreaction.”
The person Palmeri described as a “Trump ally” also explained why her status as an independent journalist was a “liability to the party.”
“Unlike a television network, the person noted, there is no broadcasting license the government could threaten to revoke,” Palmeri wrote.
Palmeri also reached out to Burke following the incident, who insisted he was “not part of any decision about press credentials or security.”