Kathie Lee Gifford says Donald Trump once saved her from a murderous stalker
Kathie Lee Gifford is speaking out about how President Donald Trump saved her and her newborn daughter from a dangerous stalker.
During a recent interview on “The Sage Steele Show,” the 71-year-old TV personality became emotional as she recalled the incident 31 years ago. Gifford said she and her baby daughter Cassidy were on their way to Atlantic City, where Gifford was to host the “Miss America” pageant, when her late husband, Frank Gifford, was notified she had received a death threat.
“The FBI called my husband, and they said, ‘Mr. Gifford, we have a problem. There’s this guy. This is a very, very bad human being. [He] was a psychopathic murderer — a rapist and murderer. And he’s coming to get your wife,” she shared.
Kathie Lee Gifford recalled how President Donald Trump saved her and her newborn daughter after she received a death threat. (Getty)
The former “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee” host told Steele she had just given birth to Cassidy six weeks earlier. Gifford, along with her baby daughter and a nanny, were about to leave in a van to drive three hours to Atlantic City when Frank received the call from the FBI. She recounted how the FBI asked Frank for the family to proceed with their original plans so they wouldn’t tip off the suspect.
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“They said, ‘We would like you, Mr. Gifford, to just keep your schedule and have your wife keep her schedule, because this guy, we don’t want him to know that we’re on to him,'” Gifford said.
Gifford said the FBI informed Frank the man had “raped and tortured” his own aunt. She explained that the man’s aunt had managed to escape long enough to call the police.
“This is why I will love this man for my whole life.”
“I never heard it until just the other day. Somebody told me how she finally got away from [him],” Gifford said. “He left. He stole her keys and told her, ‘Now I’m going to go after Kathie Lee.'”
The Daytime Emmy Award winner recalled that Frank told the FBI he would not agree to its request that he and Gifford keep their usual schedules until he made one call.
“And he called Donald,” she said.
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Gifford explained that she always stayed at the Trump Plaza and Casino when she was in Atlantic City, which made it easy for the man to know her location.
“Frank called Donald and said, “Donald, we’ve got this situation,'” Gifford recalled.
“And this is why I will love this man for my whole life,” she said of Trump as she teared up. “He said, ‘Frank, don’t you worry about it. I’ve got your girls. I’ve got your girls. And don’t you worry.’
“And so Frank called back the FBI and said, ‘I called Donald Trump. He says he’s going to take care of my wife and my daughter.'”
The FBI called Gifford’s late husband, Frank Gifford, to warn him about the death threat. (Getty Images)
Gifford said, at the time, she “didn’t know anything” about the threat and was surprised when she received a call from Trump, who told her that he was sending his helicopter to take her to his hotel.
She later realized the real estate mogul was protecting her by having her use a different and safer mode of transportation to her destination. Gifford was also confused since Trump had come up with a cover story to explain why he was making the gesture.
“I said, ‘Donald, why? He said, “Because you’ve had a baby.’ I said, ‘Donald, women have babies every day. It’s no big deal. Thank you. But it’s no big deal.’ And he goes, ‘No, congratulations. So happy for you … [I’m] sending my helicopter for you and your baby and your nanny,'” she recalled.
Gifford recalled that she tried to talk him out of it, but Trump was adamant. “The next day, he sent his helicopter.”
In addition to sending his helicopter, Gifford said, she was greeted by four members of Trump’s security team when she arrived in Atlantic City.
“I mean, these guys are major, major, and they’re like, ‘Mrs. Gifford, Mr. Trump wants you to know that we’re here for you,'” Gifford said. “I didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Gifford said that since she had just given birth and had “all kinds of stuff going on,” she didn’t inquire further about why Trump had sent his security to protect her.
Trump had Gifford flown to his hotel in a helicopter, and he had a security team guard her all week long. (Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images)
The “Then Came You” actress said she thanked the security guards and “never thought anything about it.” However, she recalled that they protected her all week leading up to the pageant, and additional members joined her security detail daily.
On the day of the pageant, Gifford had some free time, so she headed down to the lobby. She recalled being bewildered why a security guard had been stationed outside her hotel room all week.
“I just never thought about it, you know?” she said. “I just … stupid. But he never said a word. Nobody said a word to me.”
After she arrived at the lobby, Gifford was stunned when she saw a newspaper with a headline about her death threat. She contacted the organizers of the pageant, who asked her if she had reconsidered hosting and performing at the event due to the threat.
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“I said, ‘Hell, no,’” she recalled. “Nobody’s going to make me afraid.
“And then I understood everything,” she said. “I understood what Donald had done. I understood what Frank had done to try to say, you know, not be afraid and all of that.”
Gifford hosted the 1994 pageant with Regis Philbin despite the threat. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Gifford said she went to the pageant and then was taken home by a different route. She later realized that an FBI officer had been guarding her son Cody, who was 3 years old, at her home in Connecticut. Gifford said the following day, she and Cody went to a movie theater, where she was informed by the FBI, which were guarding her, that the man had been caught.
“In the middle of the movie, one of the FBI guys comes over and goes, ‘Mrs. Gifford, we got this son of a b—-,'” she recalled, “I said, ‘Thank you so much.’”
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At the beginning of the episode, Gifford explained she had previously rarely shared the story of how Trump helped her because the late Rev. Billy Graham had warned her long ago to stay out of politics.
“He said, ‘Just tell people that God loves them,” Gifford recalled of Graham’s advice. “And all these years, that’s what I’ve done. You’ve never heard me say a thing about politics — ever.
“And now I’m ready to,” she said. “I’m ready to now because, first of all, Billy’s gone. I saw him right before he died.”
Gifford; Trump’s wife, Melania Trump; and Trump are pictured in 2011. (Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
The famous evangelist died of natural causes at the age of 99 in 2018.
Gifford said she knew Graham would understand why she had to be “very honest” now and speak out about how Trump had saved her.
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However, she explained that she still “hates politics” and dislikes some of Trump’s rhetoric.
“I would cringe at times. I would go, ’Donald no, no,'” she said. “That’s not the man I knew, you know? But the story I just told you is the man I know.
“That’s my friend Donald,” Gifford said. “Saved my life. Saved my daughter’s life. And if I called him today, [he] would save it again.”
