Trump rips ex-DHS staffer who endorsed Biden

President Trump on Tuesday lashed out at a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staffer who a day earlier endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and alleged the president has tried to use DHS for political benefit.

In one of several morning tweets targeting individual critics, Trump bashed Miles Taylor, who was featured in an ad for the group Republican Voters Against Trump and penned an op-ed in The Washington Post, though the president did not deny any of Taylor’s claims.

“Many thousands of people work for our government. With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit,” Trump tweeted. “Said to be a real ‘stiff’. They will take anyone against us!”

Many thousands of people work for our government. With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real “stiff”. They will take anyone against us!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020

Taylor worked at DHS from 2017 to 2019. He spent a portion of that time as chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

He responded on Twitter with a photo of him next to Trump in the Oval Office.

“Alas, I’ll take the bait. Haven’t forgotten you though!” he tweeted. “I guess the only way to prove it is to tell some stories. Maybe until the election. What do you think?”

Taylor backed Biden’s White House bid in the ad released Monday, and he alleged Trump tried to “exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda.”

Among his claims is that Trump attempted to cut off federal wildfire aid to California because Californians did not support him and that the president had “a deliberate policy of ripping children away from their parents to show those parents that they shouldn’t come to the border in the first place.”

In his op-ed, Taylor additionally argues Trump has harmed the United States’ standing in the world and criticizes the president for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The president regularly claims he does not know individuals in his administration who are critical of him. It served as a commonly used defense during his impeachment trial when multiple government officials testified in the House.

Updated at 10:17 a.m.