OPINION:
Ann Coulter, conservative columnist, said in a recent interview with the Daily Beast that Jared Kushner, son-in-law to Donald Trump, is the one who penned the anonymously published presidential hatchet job in The New York Times.
It’s a bit of a stretch. A bit of a ring toss.
But then again, a few years ago, it would have been considered a bit of a stretch for a paper of The New York Times’ esteem to publish an op-ed aimed at calming the anti-Trumpers of the country by assuring of a Deep State-like presence within the White House, actively working to counter the president’s agenda — in a cowardly, anonymous manner, that is.
The times have changed.
Yet the problem with pieces penned and published by unnamed, supposedly high-placed, “senior administration” insider sources persist — and it’s a problem that basically goes like this: Nobody really knows.
Nobody really knows what to believe, whom to believe, or whether there’s anything worthwhile to believe in the first place.
Heck, the latest whispers are The New York Times editorial board itself penned the op-ed, and attributed it — deceitfully — to an administration official. So Coulter’s theory?
Why not.
Add one one more guess to this list of mystery and intrigue.
“Because he and Ivanka are going to have to go back to the Upper East Side and go to the Hamptons,” Coulter said to the Daily Beast, when apparently asked why Kushner may have written the op-ed.
She went on: “They’re probably worried that Trump will be removed within the next few years. They had just gone to the McCain funeral and [the op-ed came out] right after Labor Day, so they were probably feeling wistful for the Hamptons. And the only way they can get back in is if they can say, ’Don’t worry, we’re the ones who stopped the wall.’ “
OK. It’s a bit of food for fodder; it’s a thought.
Then again, Coulter’s not exactly a Kushner fan anyway.
“If Trump realized that Jared Kushner was ruining his presidency and shot him,” she wrote in her recent book, “Resistance Is Futile!” The Hill cited, “and then he fired the U.S. attorney investigating the crime, that would be a textbook case of obstruction of justice. … But Trump hasn’t shot Kushner, and he probably won’t since he doesn’t even realize that Kushner is wrecking his presidency.”
Interesting stuff.
The stuff of media cycling and recycling.
But in the end, Coulter — like the rest — is just guessing. And all this guessing is just that. It really doesn’t get us any closer to knowing the identity of the coward who’s rapidly becoming the most famous individual in modern political times.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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