No such meeting or conversation ever happened - a made up story by "low ratings" @CNN.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2016
Donald Trump on Wednesday night admonished Hillary Clinton for having the father of the Orlando shooter seated behind her at a recent campaign rally.
"Wasn't it terrible?" Trump asked, that Seddique Mateen was "sitting with a big smile on his face right behind Hillary Clinton ... When you get those seats, you sort of know the campaign."
But as he said those words, disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley smiled up at him from behind the stage.
Foley, a Republican who represented southern Florida, was forced to resign his seat in September 2006 in the wake of allegations that he sent sent suggestive emails and instant messages to congressional pages. The former congressman shared Trump's camera shot, with a smile, for the entirety of the hour-long rally.
The candidate himself turned around multiple times, once during the Mateen riff against Clinton, asking the attendees seated behind him, "How many of you people know me? A lot of people know me."
Foley, among others, raised his hand and waved in response.
Foley told NBC News' Thomas Roberts immediately after the rally via text message that "yes" he is a Trump supporter. "He's been a friend of mine for 30 years and one of my biggest contributors," Foley wrote.
The Mark Foley scandal, which broke in late September 2006, centers on soliciting e-mails and sexually suggestive instant messages sent by Mark Foley, a Republican Congressman from Florida, to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congressional pages. Investigation was closed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on September 19, 2008 citing insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges as both "Congress and Mr. Foley denied us access to critical data", said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. The scandal grew to encompass the response of Republican congressional leaders to previous complaints about Foley's contacts with the pages and inconsistencies in the leaders' public statements. There were also allegations that a second Republican Congressman, Jim Kolbe, had improper conduct with at least two youths, a 16-year-old page and a recently graduated page.
The scandal led to Foley's resignation from Congress on September 29, 2006. In some quarters, the scandal is believed to have contributed to the Republican Party's loss of control over Congress in the November 7, 2006 election, as well as the end of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's leadership of the House Republicans. Kirk Fordham, chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds and former chief of staff for Foley, also resigned as a result of the scandal.