By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
Someone asked me today about the media’s depiction of some kind of feud between Steve Bannon and President Trump … which is based on quotes attributed to Bannon in a new book about the Trump administration’s first year. The book is Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff … and even the author has been willing to admit that it’s possible that there are parts in his book that are not true.
Was it written based on leftist assumptions? Was it written in any way it could be to attack the Trump administration regardless of the truth?
Wolff says he knew some sources were lying to him. Did he know which was which? Or did he just assume those who did not fit his anti-Trump narrative was lying, and then changed what they said to fit his agenda?
If he’s admitting to make some of it up, how can we trust him when he tells us any part is true?
Wolff claims his book is the result of “more than two hundred interviews” with people including Trump and “most members of his senior staff.” Trump disagrees. The President says the book is “full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist.”
Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump: I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!7:52 PM – Jan 4, 2018
The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, described the book as “complete fantasy.”
Asked to rebut specific points, she said: “I’m not going to waste my time or the country’s time going page by page and talking about a book that is complete fantasy and just full of tabloid gossip.”
Other people mentioned in the book have also disputed claims made about them.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who the book said warned Trump that he may be under surveillance from British spies, issued a statement describing the claim as “categorically absurd” and “simply untrue.”
Anna Wintour, the longtime Vogue editor, also dismissed the claim that she lobbied Trump to be his ambassador to the UK as “laughably preposterous.”
Other journalists have also urged caution. Some cited Wolff’s track record — questions were raised about his 2008 book on Rupert Murdoch — and others compared his claims with their own knowledge of the Trump White House.
When asked about the accuracy of the book, Wolff responded that he stood by “absolutely everything” in his Trump-trashing book. Despite that assertion, he later admitted to using deceptive tactics: “I certainly said what was ever necessary to get the story.”
