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According to a new report, adult movie actress Stormy Daniels, who denied having an extramarital affair with Donald Trump back in 2006, told a different story in 2011. USA TODAY

EJ Montini: If this were any other president, buying off a porn star would be a YUUUGE scandal. But not Donald Trump.

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Imagine if President Barack Obama had done this.

Imagine if President George W. Bush had done this.

Imagine if president … anybody ... had done this.

Anybody but Trump, anyway.

It would not simply be news. It would be THE news.

It would be a national obsession.

Porn star affair while Melania was pregnant

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a lawyer representing Donald Trump worked out a $130,000 payment to a porn-film actress to buy her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump.

The payoff was said to have occurred during a crucial time in the campaign.

The consensual sex was said to have occurred while Trump was married to a pregnant Melania.

Now, In Touch magazine has published a 7-year-old interview in which the porn star outlines her affair with Trump. 

Can we still ignore this?

MONTINI: Trump says 16 women are lying about his misconduct

All this in addition to the report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal.

This is a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch, the man who also owns Fox News Channel, a man who calls Trump a friend, a media mogul whose publications and TV channels have been extremely kind to the president.

The woman involved, Stephanie Clifford, goes by the screen name “Stormie Daniels” and starred (if that is ever the right word for a porn flick) in … I’m not making this up … a film called “Good Will Humping.”

Why aren't people outraged over this?

The payoff came right around the time of the release of Trump’s coarse boasting on an “Access Hollywood” tape about being able to grab women by the genitals.

Writing in The New York Times op-ed columnist Michelle Goldberg said of all this, “In any other administration, evidence that the president paid hush money to the star of “Good Will Humping” during the election would be a scandal. In this one it has, so far, elicited a collective shrug.”

She’s right.

Granted, there is already the considerable collective noise over Trump’s “s--hole” comments. And trying to figure out if the President of the United States is a racist might supersede reports of his philandering.

But, still.

Hush money to a porn star?

I haven’t seen or heard anything from the evangelical leaders who have supported Trump.

I haven’t seen or heard much of anything from just about anyone.

After only a year of President Trump have our expectations of the individual elected to that office really sunk that low?

Yes.  

MORE FROM MONTINI:

Who is the bigger cad: Donald Trump or Bill Clinton?

Jeff Flake calls Donald Trump’s press attacks Stalin-esque

Martha McSally pretends 's--hole' is not a slur

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