Kathie Lee Gifford Gets Emotional Recalling Donald Trump Protecting Her From A Death Threat: “I Will Love This Man For My Whole Life”

The side of President Trump they don’t tell you about.

Obviously Donald Trump is one of the most polarizing figures in our country. You either love the guy or you think he’s the worst person on the planet, and there’s really no in between or room for nuance in your opinion. And there’s no doubt he’s ruffled a lot of feathers with his unfiltered style and willingness to shake up the status quo in politics.

But Kathie Lee Gifford wants people to know the personal side of Trump and what he did for her and her family.

The longtime talk show host from shows like Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee and Today has always stayed out of politics, but she recently sat down with former ESPN host Sage Steele on her podcast, where she opened up about the man that the rest of the world doesn’t get to see.

Shortly after her daughter Cassidy was born in 1993, Gifford was scheduled to attend the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, which was of course owned by Donald Trump. But ahead of her trip, her husband Frank Gifford received a call from the FBI alerting him of a death threat that had been against Kathie Lee by a man who had been accused of raping and torturing one of his family members.

The FBI had a request for Gifford: To keep her scheduled plans, so that the guy didn’t know that the FBI was onto him.

Obviously that’s a big ask, to just go about your business knowing that some psychopath is out there trying to kill you. So before Frank would agree, he told them that had to make a call:

“Frank said, ‘I’m going to make one call. I will not agree to that until I make one call.’ And he called Donald…

I always stayed at the Trump Tower there…in Atlantic City. And Frank called Donald, and told him about the situation. And Donald said – and this is why I will love this man for my whole life – he said, ‘Frank, don’t you worry about it. I’ve got your girls.'”

With the assurances from Trump, her husband called the FBI back to let them know that they would agree and keep with their regular schedule.

But Kathie Lee herself had no idea what was going on.

She got a call from Trump before leaving for the pageant, and he informed her that he would be sending his helicopter to pick them up. When Gifford asked why, he said it was because she had just had a baby – which she thought was odd, but as she says, you can’t really talk Donald Trump out of something once he’s made up his mind.

And when she got to Atlantic City, security was there to meet her and stay by her side the entire trip.

“I didn’t know what they were talking about. First of all, I just had a baby, you have all kinds of stuff going on…and I said, ‘Thank you guys,’ and I never thought about it. And all week long, more and more people, every day, more and more guys, until the very end…

I had a guy staying outside my hotel room all week long. Outside my hotel room. And I said, ‘Why?’ I just never thought about it… But he never said a word. Nobody said a word to me.”

Well Kathie Lee was reading the newspaper the day of the pageant when she saw a headline: “Kathie Lee Gifford Death Threat.” And that’s when she realized what was going on – and why Trump had sent his helicopter and security to protect her and her newborn baby.

The man was eventually caught, and Gifford says that while Trump has said some things that have made her cringe at times, she knows the real Donald Trump that most people never get to see:

“The story I just told you is the man I know. That’s my friend Donald. Saved my life, saved my daughter’s life. And if I called him today, would save it again.”