You may have been reading that the next big name to stand behind Republican Nominee Donald Trump is former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli—well, guess again; it was staged.
32-year-old Shkreli admitted during a near 6-hour video live stream talk show that he knowingly retweeted and acknowledged the parody Trump Twitter account, knowing it would spark internet turmoil.
all you people who don’t like trump are jealous, stupid and poor! don’t make me laugh! and if you are employed by media you are worthless.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) May 27, 2016
.@MartinShkreli Thank you! Together we will #MakeAmericaGreatAgain! #BernieTrumpDebate#BernieVsTrump#TrumpTrainhttps://t.co/fveKwJTymx
— Donald J. Trump (@reaIDomaIdTrunp) May 27, 2016
thank you Donald! https://t.co/6yLUSM7SLa
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) May 27, 2016
At 1 hour and 50 minutes in, Shkreli explains there was a “fake Donald Trump” that “accepted his endorsement.”
Laughingly, he says “So, I retweeted it and I was like, ‘Thank you Donald, I hope we can make America great again together!”
He then asks, “Jesus Christ, how gullible are people?”
Then added: “I don’t like Trump, I’m just [expletive] kidding. He’s an idiot. Just trying to get a ruse out of people …”
In the next sentence, Shkreli mocked the media coverage of the incident, prompting one of the three girls in the video chat to ask: “How many times did you troll the media?”
And he replied with, “It’s my life goal,” and mentioned that he’s planning an elaborate plan to dupe the media.
I didn’t think it was possible that someone believed I thought a Trump parody account was real. https://t.co/IvmRXdmiDw
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) May 27, 2016
Several media outlets and publications have taken the exchange on Twitter as fact, and believed it was Shkreli’s way of getting behind Trump—but his live stream indicates otherwise.
The journalist response to my Trump tweetstorm/satire makes me want to quit the Internet. Goodbye, cruel e-world. It is too dangerous.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) May 27, 2016
He didn’t say he had been against the Trump campaign, however. During the stream, a number of times he says he has the same dislikes as Trump—Hillary Clinton in particular.
“In some ways, I like him because he’s a winner and he’s killing it, you know,” Shkreli said during the chat. “I don’t love the guy, but at the end of the day he also hates a lot of the stuff I hate.”
“Whatever it takes to beat Hillary Clinton because honestly the feeling inside her cold black heart when she loses a second time … would be the worst feeling ever. So worth it,” Shkreli said.
After the stream, he even tweeted that he would “support him vs. Hillary.”
I haven’t been called by the Trump camp. I support him vs. Hillary. He should find a VP candidate who is seasoned in politics, an ugly game.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) May 27, 2016
Shkreli is currently facing securities fraud and conspiracy charges in relation to another pharmaceutical company he once led, Retrophin Inc.
He made headlines back in September after spending $55 million for the U.S. rights to sell a medicine called Daraprim; he promptly raised the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
The 62-year-old drug is the only approved treatment for toxoplasmosis, a rare parasitic disease that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients, and AIDS patients.
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Hillary Clinton called it price-gouging and said the company’s behavior was “outrageous.” Donald Trump called Shkreli “a spoiled brat.” Bernie Sanders returned a donation from Shkreli.
Shkreli is due back in federal court on June 6.
I am confident I will prevail. The allegations against me are baseless and without merit.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) December 19, 2015
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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