Maybe there never was a phone call to begin with, I’m skeptical of any and all reports at this time, nearly every that has been reported so far has had reports saying the opposite.
This is more likely. The media is NOT trustworthy and will run any idle gossip they’ve heard or even make it up to get out in front of the story.
It’s sad that citizen journalists on youtube will do more due diligence than actual paid reporters in newsrooms (let alone make up stories like the NYTimes)