Jennifer Griffin Defends Her Reporting After Donald Trump Demands Fox News Fire Her

Fox News journalist Jennifer Griffin continues to stand by her reporting on President Donald Trump's disparaging remarks on veterans, as first reported by The Atlantic. Griffin is among a handful of reporters who have confirmed parts of The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg's reporting that Trump refused to go to a Paris cemetery of American veterans in 2018. The White House has repeatedly denied the story, with Trump even calling for Fox News to fire Griffin.

"My sources are not anonymous to me and I doubt they are anonymous to the president," Griffin told Neil Cavuto on Fox News' Cavuto Live Saturday, reports Forbes. "I can tell you that my sources are unimpeachable." Cavuto then praised Griffin as a "very good reporter - and then some." Griffin is "pretty scrupulous when it comes to making sure all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed," Cavuto said of Griffin, who joined Fox News in 1999.

On Friday, a day after The Atlantic's original report was published, Griffin said she confirmed several "key" parts from her own sources, two former senior Trump officials. One source told Griffin Trump once said anyone who served in Vietnam was a "sucker." The source said Trump once asked of veterans, "What's in it for them? They don't make any money." As for Trump's decision not to go to the Aisne-Marne Cemetery in 2018, Trump did not understand why he needed to visit two cemeteries and still did not want to go after his staff told him the media would criticize him, Griffin's source said. "The President drives a lot. The other world leaders drove to the cemeteries. He just didn't want to go," the former official said.

Griffin's sources also confirmed parts of The Atlantic report on Trump's continued animosity towards Sen. John McCain, even after his death in August 2018. Trump "just hated" McCain, her source said, adding that Trump asked staffers "Why do you see him as a hero?" Two sources said Trump did not want the flags at the White House lowered half-staff. Others in the White House ordered the flags to be lowered, and Trump eventually relented after a "stand-off," Griffin reported.

After The Atlantic's report was published on Thursday, the White House sent out several denials, with even First Lady Melania Trump disputing it in a tweet. On Friday, Trump called for Griffin to be fired, leading to some journalists to point out Griffin's record. Even Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted support for Griffin. "She's one of my favorite reporters," he wrote. "Fair and unafraid."