Michael Avenatti rips Trump for enabling Giuliani's misogyny -- and says 'trouble is brewing' with Melania
In a phone interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Friday, Michael Avenatti slammed Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani for claiming his client is not credible because of her career choice.
Earlier in the week, Giuliani said he does not respect Avenatti's client — former Trump mistress and adult film star Stormy Daniels — because she "sells her body for sexual exploitation." He later insinuated that Daniels was not as beautiful as the women that Trump married, and said one cannot call themselves a feminist and support the porn industry.
For the actress' attorney, those sexist comments were a bridge too far.
"This is outrageous," Avenatti said. "Every woman in America — right, center, left, it doesn't matter — should stand up and be angry about this."
During an impromptu press conference earlier Friday morning, Trump told reporters he "is not going to disagree" with Giuliani. To Avenatti, that comment was basically a show of support.
"If you look at Mr. Trump's comments, you know, that's not what he said," the attorney told Ruhle. "He basically supported what Rudy Giuliani had stated in total, which is entirely inappropriate."
Avenatti added that if Giuliani had made such "disgusting" comments when working for a Fortune 500 company, "he would have been fired yesterday, no questions."
"Instead, we have a president that not only doesn't fire him," he continued, "but now also comes out this morning and issues a statement, gives a statement of support."
Later in the interview, Avenatti noted that Giuliani's assertion that Daniels is somehow not credible due to her line of work is refuted by the fact that Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to stay mum about her affair with the president.
"If my client's not credible and is a liar, why did they pay her $130,000?" he mused. "It makes absolutely no sense. They paid her $130,000 because they knew she was telling the truth.
"Whenever a woman comes forward who is credible," Avenatti concluded, "they constantly resort to attacking that woman based on her looks."
At the end of the segment, Avenatti lauded First Lady Melania Trump's comments appearing to distance herself from Giuliani, who claimed she was in agreement with his assessment of the situation.
"Not only did she distance herself, she contradicted Giuliani," he said, noting that the first lady's "extraordinary" statement claimed she had never been in contact with her husband's attorney.
"I think that shows there's a lot of trouble brewing between the first lady and the president," Avenatti said. "And I think it also shows that she doesn't necessarily believe his denials, nor should she."
Watch below, via MSNBC: