Trump Fires Back at 'Discredited' Woodward

He accuses journalist of being 'Dem operative'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 5, 2018 5:04 AM CDT
Updated Sep 5, 2018 5:46 AM CDT
Trump Fires Back at 'Discredited' Woodward
This image released by Simon & Schuster shows "Fear: Trump in the White House," by Bob Woodward, available on Sept. 11.   (Simon & Schuster via AP)

Bob Woodward might be feeling a sense of deja vu today: An angry Republican president is attacking his credibility and accusing him of being a Democratic operative. President Trump laid into Woodward in a series of tweets Tuesday night after the publication of explosive details from Fear, Woodward's new book on the Trump White House, the Washington Post reports. Trump, describing the book as "already discredited," accused the veteran DC journalist of using "lies and phony sources" in an attempt to divide the country before the midterm elections. "Woodward is a Dem operative? Notice timing?" wrote Trump, who posted denials from advisers quoted in the book. A source tells the Post that Trump was "furious" late Tuesday and demanded to know who'd spoken to Woodward.

In statements released by the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders said the book was "nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees," and chief of staff John Kelly again denied describing Trump as an "idiot," reports CNN. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis—who described Trump as having the abilities of a "fifth- or sixth-grader," according to Woodward's sources—described Fear as "fiction," adding that the author's "anonymous sources do not lend credibility." In an interview with the conservative Daily Caller, Trump said Fear, which goes on sale next Tuesday, is "just another bad book." He added that Woodward has had "a lot of credibility problems." (More Bob Woodward stories.)

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