President Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday to express his displeasure with Alabama native Cliff Sims’ newly released book that chronicles his time serving in the White House.
After Sims started making the rounds on major television programs Monday ahead of Team of Vipers being released the next day, he began Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” which was followed by an appearance on CNN’s “New Day.”
As Sims spoke live with CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota, Trump used his favorite medium to share his thoughts on the book and his former campaign and administration staffer.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2019
Camerota prompted Sims to respond almost in real time, with the CNN anchor reading the tweet to him on air.
“Look, I know that [Trump tweeting] was a possibility when I wrote this book. And you know what I said? My identity is not wrapped up in being a Trump staffer. My identity is wrapped up in who I am in my faith, and those are the things that matter to me – I know who Jesus says I am. Don’t matter to me what Donald Trump or anyone else says that I am,” Sims said.
Camerota asked, “You don’t mind being called ‘a gofer?’”
“Not even one bit,” Sims replied with a smile.
Former WH aide @Cliff_Sims responds after President Trump tweets about him while being interviewed on @NewDay: “Don’t matter to me what Donald Trump or anyone else says that I am.” https://t.co/TBcAJdJJZP pic.twitter.com/RjDdYLrhwS
— New Day (@NewDay) January 29, 2019
Since his appearance on “New Day,” Sims sent out a tweet of his own, embracing the “gofer” moniker given to him by the president.
“Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House” is out today, written by the most famous “gofer” in the world! Enjoy! https://t.co/Eovn8jMVhk pic.twitter.com/V013bIe0r2
— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) January 29, 2019
Sims is the founder and former CEO of Yellowhammer Multimedia. He sold and left the company when he went to work for the Trump campaign in 2016.
After Trump’s tweet on Tuesday, the chief operating officer of the president’s re-election campaign tweeted, “The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA.”
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been held by the United States Supreme Court to be unenforceable when applied to former federal government employees disclosing unclassified information pertaining to their public service.
Two prominent D.C. attorneys specializing in First Amendment and government transparency litigation have already offered to defend Sims against the potential lawsuit pro bono.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
