Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator may have made big bucks betting on the president’s speeches, but there was a flaw in his plan as the Daily Show pointed out on Thursday.
The show’s rotating host, Michael Kosta, covered reports that the 80-year-old president’s teleprompter is allegedly using his “inside knowledge” of the speech to gamble on the burgeoning online betting marketplace.
Aide Gabriel Perez has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016. Perez has now made more than $100,000 on Kalshi’s “Mentions” market using knowledge of the president’s speeches this term, an ABC News report alleges. The market involves betting on whether certain words or phrases will be mentioned in a significant public speech or national broadcast.
He was one of the few with access to the president’s State of the Union address, from which he made the largest chunk of cash. But Perez also reportedly drew in money from over a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period.
“Honestly, respect,” responded Kosta to the reports.
But Kosta discovered the flaw in Perez’s plan–that no matter how much he knows, Trump is both unpredictable and prone to slurring his speech.
“I know people are going to say it’s cheating if he knows what words are in the prompter, but with Trump, that’s not a sure thing,” explained the Daily Show anchor. “For example, let’s say he puts a bet down that Trump is going to read the word magnificent in a speech..."
Kosta panned to footage of the president attempting to pronounce that word in remarks about the proposed golden arch in front of the Arlington Cemetery. Instead, Trump pronounced the word as “magnici” and, eventually, decided to give up and used the phrase “really beautiful.”
“Does that count? Does that count?” asked Kosta. “I hope it does, because I put 200 large on it.”
Kosta continued, “I assume Trump is cool with this. I mean, game recognize game.”
Perez has now been placed on unpaid administrative leave, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announcing the decision on Thursday. “There are very strict ethical guidelines here at the White House,” she claimed. Leavitt also said that the president found the reports “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”
Kosta retorted, “Nice try. Did she just say there are very strict ethical guidelines at the White House? This is like claiming that Love Island has a dress code."
