Michael Wolff, author of the bestselling book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” that dominated the news cycle in January, says in a new interview that he’s “barely a journalist,” referring to himself instead as “an observer.”
“I’m not a political journalist. I’m not, frankly, all that much interested in politics,” Wolff said in an interview with Vassar College’s “The Vassar Political Review” published Monday. “I’m a writer. I’m barely a journalist, actually. I am a writer.”
“I am an observer: I investigate nothing,” he added later in the interview. “All I do is look and write what I see and what I hear, and my job — which has nothing to do with truth — is to take what I see and what I hear and write that in a way that readers can come [as close] as possible — as close as I came — to the experience of doing this.”
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“I want to be able to turn what I see into something that a reader says ‘oh, I see that too,’ ” he added.
Wolff’s book captured the nation’s attention leading up to its January release due to its provocative claims made about the Trump White House, leading to an extensive media tour by the 64-year-old author.
The book was also met with criticism by the White House as “trashy tabloid fiction” while some journalists accused Wolff of failing to fact-check numerous claims made in a book.
Wolff recently cut down on appearances on his media tour following scrutiny after seeming to push the notion of an alleged affair between U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Trump.
The criticism came to a head when Wolff abruptly ended an interview on Australia’s version of “Today” on Feb. 25, with Wolff taking off his earpiece and walking out of the studio after claiming he couldn’t hear a question about apologizing to the president and first lady for suggesting the president was having an affair with Haley, the former Republican South Carolina governor.
Wolff’s book was so hotly anticipated ahead of its launch that publisher Henry Holt moved the release date up in January. The inside look at the White House has gone on to sell more than 2 million copies.