President Trump on Tuesday morning lashed out against a former White House staffer at the exact moment he was being interviewed live on CNN.
Trump tweeted that Cliff Sims, who worked in the White House for a year and a half and just published a tell-all book full of damaging anecdotes about what he observed there, is just pretending to be an insider but was actually "nothing more than a gofer." Trump claimed the book is fiction and revealed that Sims signed a non-disclosure agreement, an unusual White House practice.
When Trump posted this tweet, Sims was in the middle of an interview on CNN's New Day, which host Alisyn Camerota interrupted in order to read the tweet out loud to its subject. "Nice," Sims responded to Trump's claim that he was just a gofer, also laughing when Trump called his book boring. Sims told CNN that he knew when he wrote Team of Vipers that Trump might tweet about it, but "my identity is not wrapped up in being a Trump staffer," and it "don't matter to me what Donald Trump or anyone else says that I am." Watch Sims' comments below. Brendan Morrow
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
