On January 6th, publisher Henry Holt and Company released the much-anticipated book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” written by self-described journalist Michael Wolff. The president’s legal team attempted to stop the publication and distribution of the book. In spite of these efforts, “Fire and Fury” has become an overnight sensation. The book has shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list, and has sold out everywhere.
The book paints President Donald Trump in a very negative light, portraying him as a deranged liar who is intellectually and emotionally unsound. The book also highlights chaotic interactions among senior White House staff, whom Wolff alleges have a very poor opinion of their boss. The journalist further asserts that White House staff believe that Donald Trump is unfit for the job.
There has been a lot of doubt about the veracity of the claims made by Wolff in “Fire and Fury.” The president maintains that the allegations in the book are false. In fact, Trump’s attorney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the publisher. In spite of the threat of a lawsuit, Henry Holt and Company released the book anyway. In fact, the publishing company released the book earlier than its scheduled publication date because of the demand.
Lawyers for Trump argue that the author has a political agenda, saying that Wolff is a liberal elite whose friends back Hillary Clinton and want to overturn the election results. The cease and desist letter accused the publication of making false and baseless statements about the president. He says that he conducted more than 200 interviews over the course of 18 months with President Trump and Senior White House staff — and adds that he took up a “semi-permanent seat on a couch In the West Wing” while reporting for his book.
The left-leaning Guardian reports that it is doubtful that any competent advisor would have allowed a journalist like Wolff to have a backstage pass into the life of a president. Donald Trump supported this claim by calling Wolff’s credibility into question on Twitter. Trump Tweeted that he gave “zero access” to the White House for Wolff ‘s “phony book.”
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders also said that Wolff had not been given unlimited access to the White House like he had alluded to during interviews for his book. In fact, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the author had been denied more than 30 requests for White House access. However, many White House staffers and reporters have announced that they have seen Wolff at the White House. Sanders did admit that Wolff did have about a dozen interactions with officials at the White House. Most of those interactions were with former advisor Steve Bannon.
Others doubt the claims made by Wolff especially the claims about the president’s mental status. Claims that the president repeats himself several times in a few minutes were called “trash” and “absurd” by Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, who has known the president for 20 years and says that the view that the president is unfit and incompetent is unjust. He also denies that Trump has “lost it” by saying that he was with Trump in early December of this year, and that the conversation was terrific.
Additionally, the men were joined by a respected medical doctor, who is a mutual friend. The physician saw no indication that anything mentally or emotionally was wrong with the president.
Some People believe that Steve Bannon was behind Wolff’s book. Ruddy thinks as much, saying that the book opened up doors for the author. Rudy points out that the president’s mental fitness is not being called into question from his key advisors like Defense Secretary James Mattis, or White House chief of staff John Kelly or vice president Mike Pence. Ruddy said that if any of these advisors called into question the president’s fitness for office, then the allegations would be taken more seriously.
President Trump has threatened to sue Bannon for defamation, libel and slander. His lawyers also say that Bannon breached his written confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement with the president.
~ Liberty Planet
