Yesterday, the New York Times published an explosive op-ed titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The article purports to be authored by a senior Trump staffer, who wants the President to succeed, but believes him to be erratic and, of course, includes talk of impeachment.
Fingers have been pointed in every direction as to who the identity of the writer could be. Initially, VP Mike Pence was the main choice of the speculators. Why? Because the Times op-ed uses the term “Lodestar,” which is a term that Pence has used publicly eight times over the past seventeen years. That Pence’s vocabulary could share a word with someone else in the Trump administration is hardly concrete evidence, and Pence denied that he’s the author. “The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The New York Times should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts” his communications director said in a statement.
So, if not Pence, who? The speculation online has turned to Jon Huntsman, at least for now. National Review’s senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty pointed to some styling similarities between Huntsman’s writing and the Times op-ed, but as was the case with Pence, it’s flimsy evidence.
Left: Jon Huntsman op-ed, July 21. Right: Anonymous senior administration official op-ed, Sept. 5.https://t.co/moKPvvTCj1https://t.co/bJzne9g8X4https://t.co/LX93I57ZAe pic.twitter.com/DbK5bQLgqZ
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) September 6, 2018
Journalist Matt LaPlante pointed out that Huntsman has published in The Times before, and noted other stylistic similarities to past writings.
But, of course, Bremmer isn't a senior Trump administration official. But he IS the co-writer of a previous New York Times op-ed, with…
…wait for it…
…Jon Huntsman.https://t.co/gnxsp7VoHX— Matthew D. LaPlante, PhD (@mdlaplante) September 6, 2018
The op-ed is also sprinkled throughout with phrases Huntsman uses. Particularities like “to be clear” and “don’t get me wrong” and “shared values.” Again, these are terms a lot of people use, but the more overlap, the tighter the circle.https://t.co/evUElJ4CqH
— Matthew D. LaPlante, PhD (@mdlaplante) September 6, 2018
Others were inclined to agree:
Jon Huntsman is 100% the NYT op ed writer
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 5, 2018
I just read the op-ed. It “sounds” more like Jon Huntsman than Mike Pence.
— JD (@joder_34) September 6, 2018
Jon Huntsman. The "labels" part gave it away.
— Brent (@brent_charnigo) September 5, 2018
Huntsman has long been lumped in the “RINO” category by his fellow Republicans, and his daughters have vocally expressed their criticism of Trump, referring to him as a “dictator.” “This is history we are living, regardless of what happens in that meeting between the two dictators. What we are seeing right now, this is history,” Abby Huntsman said ahead of the historic North Korea summit. She’d later leave Fox News for “The View.”
While I’m certain the Times would like us to have the impression that even the “higher-ups” in the Trump administration are revolting, in reality, it’ll likely be someone that’s either irrelevant or someone the American public forgot the name of long ago.
[totalpoll id=”146727″]
The betting website “predict it” is allowing users to gamble on the identity of the NYT author, but betting is far too thin currently to draw any implied odds from it.