President Trump took to social media to mock a pro-Biden former Department of Homeland Security official who penned a widely read, anonymous New York Times op-ed in 2018 about an internal “resistance” in the Trump administration.
Miles Taylor, who revealed that he authored the op-ed on Wednesday, was characterized by the newspaper as a “senior administration official,” but he did not appear on the DHS website as part of its leadership until he was listed as chief of staff on Feb. 21, 2019, five months after the article was published. Taylor lied to CNN’s Anderson Cooper when directly asked if he was the individual who wrote the op-ed. “I wear a mask for two things, Anderson: Halloweens and pandemics. So, no,” he said at the time.
“So it turns out that the wise guy promoted as ‘Anonymous’ by the @nytimes, named Miles Taylor (who I never even heard of!), was only a little known ‘staffer’ as opposed to a ‘Senior Administration Official’. He then scammed @CNN, lied to @andersoncooper, & got a job there,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “He also worked at, of all places, @Google. They all have big liability!!!”
….He also worked at, of all places, @Google. They all have big liability!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2020
CNN host Chris Cuomo confronted Taylor about lying to his network on Wednesday. “You were asked in August if you were ‘Anonymous’ here with Anderson Cooper, and you said no. Now, why should CNN keep you on the payroll after lying like that?” Cuomo asked.
Taylor defended his deception to the network, saying he wrote in his anonymous book that “if asked, I would strenuously deny I was the author.”
“When asked by Anderson … I said what I was going to do. I temporarily denied it. But I always said I would ultimately come out under my own name. But that said, I owe Anderson Cooper a beer,” Taylor continued.
A CNN spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Post that the network planned to keep Taylor on as a contributor despite his on-the-record lie to Cooper.
