The Daily Caller’s White House correspondent, Saagar Enjeti, on Thursday slammed the anonymous senior administration official who published an op-ed criticizing President Trump in The New York Times.
“That op-ed screams Republican elite who has sold their soul, so to speak,” Enjeti told Hill.TV “Rising” co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“They talk about historic tax reform and an anti-trade agenda – this is really a Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney acolyte who decided to take a cushy job in the administration,” he added, referring to the Speaker and former GOP presidential nominee.
In the op-ed, the unidentified author denounced Trump’s “anti-trade” and “anti-democratic” impulses, but praised some of his policies.
“There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more,” the official wrote.
But the author said these success have “come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style.”
Shortly after the op-ed was published, Trump lashed out, questioning whether the author really existed. The president said if the source was real, they were “gutless” and demanded that they turn themselves over to government officials.
But The Times noted that such a disclosure would put the Trump administration official in jeopardy, adding that editor made the piece anonymous at the request of the author.
Speculation about the op-ed’s author continues to build.
Vice President Mike Pence to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both denied any involvement with it.
— Tess Bonn
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