White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley called the author of a bombshell new book on President Trump’s administration a «crackpot» on Thursday night, adding to the White House’s denial of the book’s claims.
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley called the author of a bombshell new book on President Trump ‘s administration a «crackpot» on Thursday night, adding to the White House’s denial of the book’s claims.
“It’s pretty obvious right now that there are many discrepancies,» Gidley told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview. «This is full of false information, inaccuracies, and quite frankly this author is quite frankly a crackpot, fake news fantasy fiction writer and it’s been proven time and time again.»
Gidley pushed back against Michael Wolff, the author of the forthcoming book «Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,» for the book’s claims while characterizing the author as a dishonest journalist.
Wolff claims to have interviewed more than 200 people for the book, which includes quotes from White House officials and former campaign advisers saying that Trump did not want to win the election and some making disparaging remarks about the president.
The publisher of Wolff’s tell-all, Henry Holt, said Thursday that the company plans to proceed with the book despite Trump’s lawyers sending a cease-and-desist letter. The publisher also said that it plans to release the book on Friday, four days earlier than originally planned.
The White House press secretary Sarah Sanders unloaded on the book in the two press briefings since excerpts first emerged. On Thursday, she called the book «complete fantasy and full of tabloid gossip,» saying she would not «waste the country’s time» fact-checking each page of the book.
“By his own admission, he says he’s loose with the facts and journalists say that’s his reputation. So let’s not run this wall-to-wall on CNN saying it’s all factual, because it’s not,» Gidley said on CNN.
Burnett noted that CNN, which obtained an early copy of the book, has not been able to corroborate each of the claims by current and former Trump associates in the book.
