Author Cliff Sims of “Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House” says his tell-all book on snakes in the White House is up front about his own duplicity.
The former Special Assistant to the President and Director of White House Message Strategy told the ladies of “The View” on Monday that he was no different than a slew of others who deceive the president.
Mr. Sims singled out White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway for allegedly two-faced behavior, but he wasn’t shy about condemning himself.
“He was very frustrated,” Mr. Sims said of one conversation with the president prior to his exit. “It wasn’t just leaks. It was like, ’White House official says bad things about Trump.’ So he’s talking about him and he says, “Who are these people? These people are supposed to work for me. I basically made the case that a lot of these people who told you to quit during the campaign, a lot of the people who bailed on you then, they’re now here in the White House.”
What the former staffer didn’t tell the president was that he was “playing that game too.”
“When I walked out of that — and I didn’t lie about anyone,” the author continued. “I gave my honest opinion to the president, but that was one of those moments when I realized: When we’re talking about a team of vipers, I was playing that game too.”
Mr. Sims then likened himself to rapper Eminem’s character in the movie “8-Mile.”
“[This] reminds me of Eminem in ’8-Mile.’ I know that’s a random comparison. If you remember the great battle-rap scene, Eminem starts it off by saying, ’I’m going to tell you every bad thing you’re going to say about myself.’ I was truthful about myself in this book and the things I wish I had done differently.”
The author insisted that he never leaked information to reporters.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.