Using anonymous sources to support outrageous claims may not be as good for the media as they might think.
Late last night New York Magazine and Huffington Post contributor Yashar Ali tweeted out an “exclusive” report that earned him both a Drudge headline and a response from the vice president’s press secretary.
“Exclusive: I’ve obtained passages from the book by ‘Anonymous’, the author of the NYT Op-ed, “Ali tweeted. “In the book, Anonymous claims that senior officials had no doubt that Pence would support invoking the 25th amendment if the majority of the cabinet agreed.”
1. Exclusive: I’ve obtained passages from the book by ‘Anonymous’, the author of the NYT Op-ed
In the book, Anonymous claims that senior officials had no doubt that Pence would support invoking the 25th amendment if the majority of the cabinet agreed. https://t.co/MoTiIaQnuM
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 7, 2019
Ali continues the tweet thread by explaining that “Anonymous” claims the 25th Amendment discussion arose when special council Bob Mueller was appointed, causing Trump to behave “erratically.” The unknown author also states that senior White House officials were fairly confident that VP Pence would support their effort to oust the president if need be.
2. Anonymous claims discussions about the 25th amendment came about when Bob Mueller was appointed by Rosenstein and Trump was behaving erratically. Anonymous claims that senior White House officials were certain Pence would support 25th amendment. https://t.co/MoTiIaQnuM
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 7, 2019
To his credit, Ali admits that he has no way of independently verifying whether the claims made in the book have any merit. He is merely reporting on the portion of the book that he received, which puts “Anonymous” in the room at the time that these discussions were alleged to have taken place.
3. In the book, Anonymous places himself/herself in the room during these discussions.
But as I note in the story, I do not have reporting of my own on these claims. The book, given the sales and the coverage of it, and the NYT Op-Ed, is newsworthy. https://t.co/MoTiIaQnuM
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 7, 2019
It didn’t take long for the vice president’s press secretary, Katie Weldman, to catch wind of the outlandish allegations against her boss. She unequivocally condemned Ali’s report as “fake news,” attempting to squash the rumors before they could bear bad fruit.
FAKE NEWS. https://t.co/cOB5SXzIG5
— Katie Waldman (@VPPressSec) November 7, 2019
A source close to the Vice President: “There is zero chance this is accurate.” https://t.co/EQVPIoLFMH
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) November 7, 2019
Liberals were quick to attack Waldman, likely because the claims made by “Anonymous” were what they preferred to hear.
The bride of FrankenHitler. Nice! Good luck.
— Neil Rohrer (@Neil8Rohrer) November 7, 2019
Oh, well, since we know you’d never lie….
?
— OUFENIX (D) ? (@oufenix) November 7, 2019
As if we are going to believe someone who would sleep with that nasty Miller sloth, LOL…
— Amy OLordy (@flygirl121) November 7, 2019
This is like the most productive thing you have done in your job.
— Neill W ? ??▶️?? (@WeeRooPDX) November 7, 2019
This come on the heels of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stating that, should President Trump be forced out of office, he is ready to go toe-to-toe with Mike Pence.
“If it’s not Trump, we’re gonna beat Mike Pence,” tweeted the verified Bernie Sanders account. At the same time, the “People for Bernie” twitter account put out a statement that noted Sanders’ campaign isn’t just focused on winning the presidency and removing Trump from office, but “defeating everything that enabled him and his ethos.”
It’s unclear how “People for Bernie” plan to “defeat” the almost 62 million Americans who voted Trump into the White House.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.
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