Nicolle Wallace: Trump told vets not to believe what they see because he knew the Playboy payoff tapes are damning

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace told the Today Show on Wednesday that it is "pretty clear" that President Donald Trump violated campaign finance laws by plotting to pay off a Playboy model during the 2016 campaign.

In an interview on NBC, host Savannah Guthrie began by asking Wallace about Trump's recent speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where he told supporters not to believe what they "read or see."

Wallace connected Trump's rant to the recent leak of an audio tape of Trump discussing paying off Playboy model Karen McDougal.

"The idea that he is not in trouble is knocked down by the idea he’s now telling his supporters — we view his supporters as [he] can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and they won’t go anywhere. Well, Donald Trump seems to be worried that his supporters might go somewhere if they see the truth, if they learn the truth, if they turn on the TV and watch the news."

"Donald Trump was deeply involved in all the intricacies of the payment of hush money to women with whom he had alleged sexual relationships," Wallace said.

According to Wallace, Trump expects his supporters "not to believe what they see with their eyes, not to believe what they hear with their own ears.

"That's always a sign of trouble, whether you're a celebrity or a politician," the MSNBC host continued. "They know they have legal problems. There are campaign finance violations that are made pretty clear by the timing of this conversation."

Guthrie concluded the interview by asking Wallace to remind the audience how the Trump campaign dealt with allegations of hush payments to women.

"They put out lies," Wallace recalled. "Hope Hicks, it was on the record with New York Times and others say nothing to see here, with Donald Trump on Air Force One, as president, said I didn’t know anything about it. All of their stories are falling apart. I think really the other revelation is the casual nature with which they tell lies about everything."

Watch the video below from NBC.