Kathie Lee Gifford says President Trump saved her and her newborn daughter from a “psychopathic murder” in 1993.
The former host of “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” broke down in tears as she recalled the incident on a podcast appearance earlier this month.
Gifford was set to host the Miss America pageant that year in Atlantic City, when she said her late husband Frank Gifford got a call from the FBI.
Kathie Lee Gifford said President Trump saved her and her newborn daughter from a “rapist and murderer” in the ‘90s. Youtube
“They said, ‘Mr. Gifford, we have a problem. There’s this guy. This is a very, very bad human being … And he’s coming to get your wife,” she shared during a Feb. 6 interview on “The Sage Steele Show.”
Gifford, 71, said the FBI told her husband the family shouldn’t change their plans so as not to tip off the stalker. But her husband was leery.
Gifford said unbeknownst to her, her husband made a call to Trump, who then owned the Miss America franchise, to tell her about the unsettling news he’d just received.
“Frank, don’t you worry about it. I’ve got your girls,” Trump told Gifford’s husband, referring to Gifford and her 6-week old daughter.
Gifford said Trump sent a helicopter to pick her up the next day, and told her it was because she had just had a baby, and shouldn’t have to travel by car.
Over three decades ago, her late husband Frank Gifford called Trump to help protect her after learning about a stalker from the FBI. Dave Allocca/StarPix
Four security guards were waiting for Gifford when she arrived, and one was stationed outside her hotel room the entire week.
But she was completely oblivious to the situation.
“I just never thought about it. Nobody said a word to me,” said Gifford
Trump let Kathie and her daughter fly in his helicopter to help them avoid running into the “psychopathic murderer.” Freelance
Gifford admits that she hates politics and even some of Trump’s rhetoric. ZAK BRIAN/GAMMA
The morning of the pageant, she went down to the hotel lobby to buy a paper.
She was stunned by the headline.
“It says Daily News — Kathy Lee Gifford, death threat,” she recalls.
That’s when she put the pieces together.
Gifford said the following day, she was at the movies with her son, when 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 bitch,’” she recalled.
Jenna Bush Hager replaced Kathie Lee Gifford as a co-host on the “Today” Show in 2019. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Gifford said she rarely shares the story because she tries to stay out of politics at the advice of the late evangelist Billy Graham.
She explained that she still hates politics and even 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.”
