President Trump disavowed his former staffer Cliff Sims, whose White House insider memoir "Team of Vipers" was released Tuesday, in a tweet, calling Sims "a mess" and "nothing more than a gofer."
"A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!"
Behind the scenes: Trump has been toying with attacking Sims on Twitter for the best part of a week. Some staff have counseled him against tweeting about Sims — arguing it would only elevate him and help sell his book — but, as ever, Trump couldn't help himself. One issue for Trump: there are numerous photographs showing that Sims was in many of the meetings he describes in the book. And one of the chief complaints about Sims from former White House colleagues who loathe him is that he "was in rooms he wasn’t supposed to be in."
