White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized the media obsession of identifying an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times disparaging President Donald Trump.
For those of you asking for the identity of the anonymous coward: pic.twitter.com/RpWYPHa6To
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 6, 2018
“The media’s wild obsession with the identity of the of the anonymous coward is recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for President Trump,” she said, adding “If you want to know who this gutless loser is, call the opinion desk of the failing NYT.”
Speculation has run wild in Washington since the publication of the op-ed Wednesday afternoon. The op-ed is from a self-described “senior administration official who writes “it may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” adding “we fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
The official described a cabal of administration officials actively circumventing the president’s daily desires. The op-ed comes just as excerpts from Bob Woodward’s new book on the administration are being released, showing a similar culture of senior aides who do not think highly of the president and work to temper his behavior.
Trump later tweeted a demand to The New York Times to release the source on national security grounds.
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018