As many speculate over the identity of the anonymous alleged "senior official in the Trump administration" who authored a scathing New York Times op-ed about President Donald Trump, some are focusing on a one-word clue that points to Vice President Mike Pence as the culprit Did Mike Pence Write the Anonymous NYT Op-Ed Blasting Trump? This One Word Has People Suspicious Credit: CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 20: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands with Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence and acknowledge the crowd on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party's nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) As many speculate over the identity of the anonymous alleged “senior official in the Trump administration” who authored a scathing New York Times op-ed about President Donald Trump, some are focusing on a one-word clue that points to Vice President Mike Pence as the culprit. In the essay, the author hails the late Arizona Sen. John McCain as “a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. The archaic word — which Merriam-Webster defines as “a star that leads or guides” or a person who “serves as an inspiration, model, or guide” — happens to be one that Pence has used often, as evidenced by a compilation video making the rounds on Twitter. Pence’s communications director has taken the surprising step of openly shutting down the wide speculation that the vice president is behind the op-ed. “The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds,” Jarrod Agen tweeted. “The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.” But some on Twitter are not convinced. RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack The “lodestar” hashtag is trending after audio producer Dan Bloom explained his suspicions about Pence in a Twitter thread. Others believe the clue could be a red herring — or even a frame job.<doc-sep>The search is on to uncover the anonymous senior official behind the New York Times op-ed claiming they are part of an internal “resistance” movement to Donald Trump’s “misguided” rule. Online sleuths believe the use of a particular word – “lodestar” – in the explosive article points to the Republican’s seemingly loyal vice president, Mike Pence, though he has forcefully denied authoring it. The unnamed author, who the Times said was a senior member of the Trump administration, cites the late senator John McCain as an example to follow in the “chaotic era” Mr Trump has ushered in; a “lodestar for restoring honour to public life and our national dialogue”. “Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognise what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t,” they add. A lodestar is either, literally, a star used as a reference point by navigators, or a metaphorical guide or inspiration. The term has been used a number of times by Mr Pence in past speeches, leading to speculation the former Indiana governor and congressman was behind the op-ed Mr Trump has condemned as “gutless”. Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel presented a supercut video of Mr Pence using the word in media interviews and speeches over a number of years. But penning an op-ed so embarrassing to Mr Trump would be a serious change of tack for the vice president, who has defended his running mate through thick and thin over the past few years. Mr Pence’s office issued a fierce denial on Thursday morning, with his communications director Jarrod Agen tweeting: “The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.” Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, has also denied authoring the piece and called it “sad”. Others online suggested the use of “lodestar” may have been an attempt at misdirection, drawing attention to Mr Pence while obscuring the article’s true source. Earlier this year, in a story examining how leaks emerged from the White House, Axios quoted one Trump administration official as saying: “To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers’ idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me.” President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources.<doc-sep>One word in an anonymous New York Times op-ed written by a senior Trump administration official has captivated people on social media. The word is "lodestar." Vice President Mike Pence is known to use the unusual word in speeches, prompting speculation he wrote the op-ed. Pence is also widely considered to be one of the most loyal members of the Trump administration. The op-ed claims there's a secret resistance movement against President Donald Trump in the White House. One word in a New York Times op-ed written by an anonymous senior Trump administration official has captivated people on social media. The op-ed claims there's a secret resistance against President Donald Trump in the White House. It set off a firestorm online after it was published Wednesday, and now people are trying to identify the author. Some have latched on to the word "lodestar" as a possible clue. The word has been used by Vice President Mike Pence in past speeches, and the fact it's not typically heard in casual conversation has prompted speculation that he may have been the person who wrote the op-ed. But it has also been reported in the past that staffers who give the press anonymous quotes sometimes use idioms or phrases often employed by other members of the Trump administration to throw the president off. "To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me," a White House official told Axios in May. Pence also has a reputation for being deferential when it comes to Trump, rarely challenging him on major issues, which makes it seem unlikely he'd have written the op-ed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on who may have written the op-ed.<doc-sep>As the media world (and the White House) scrambles to figure out the identity of the anonymous senior Trump administration official who wrote a scathing New York Times op-ed rebuking the president, one producer thinks he may have figured it out. Panoply audio producer Dan Bloom tweeted that the use of the word "lodestar" to laud the late John McCain not only ruled out people like Stephen Miller — it also stuck out because he'd heard it before. "'Lodestar' just seems like an unusual word to use in general, not to mention in an op-ed that's going to be widely read," Bloom wrote. He added that he researched whether White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis had ever used it, but it doesn't appear that they had. He then ran across the word in a speech Vice President Mike Pence made to the United Nations in 2017, saying that the NGO "must again be our lodestar, our ideal, and our aspiration." The term came up again two months later at a dinner, Bloom noted. Pence used it again in February 2018, the producer wrote — but he also was documented using it in 2011 as well. In subsequent tweets, Bloom noted that it couldn't simply be attributed to Pence's speechwriter Stephen Ford because he began working for the vice president in 2001, but the first usage that anyone had found was in 2001. "The Times piece begins with a disclaimer that describes the author as: 'a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure,'" Bloom wrote. "Pence is basically the only WH employee that cannot be fired, but as [I] read it, the language 'job would be jeopardized' is rather broad." "Even if Vice President Mike Pence can't be fired, if this were to go public, Pence's influence and effectiveness would certainly be jeopardized," he added. "I could be totally wrong," Bloom acknowledged, adding that his is a "speculative, unconfirmed theory" that is "based on words that came out of Vice President Mike Pence's mouth."<doc-sep>
In an explosive move, The New York Times released an op-ed written by an anonymous Trump official which revealed details of a “secret revolution” occurring inside the White House. The article also detailed the chance of the Cabinet potentially evoking the 25th amendment, which would oust President Trump and replace him with Vice President Mike Pence. In the wake of the explosive article, thousands of Twitter users began to speculate who the senior official was that had written the letter, many of them citing Pence as the author. Here’s what you need to know. The Vocabulary Word ‘Lodestar’ Was a Huge Tipoff At one point in the article, the author uses the conspicuous word “lodestar” to describe the late Sen. John McCain. The author wrote, “We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.” The only Trump official who has used the word “lodestar” previously is Pence- and he’s used it on several occasions. In a CBS interview, Pence said, “As you know we made changes as soon as I took over the transition efforts. We made changes — we moved lobbyists out of the transition team and that’s going to continue to be a lodestar and I can tell your viewers that the president-elect is determined to move ethics reform in the next year in the Congress of the United States.” In a speech at the UN, Pence said, “So let us rededicate ourselves to the mission upon which this body was founded — the first words of the U.N. Charter, ‘to maintain international peace,’ must again be our lodestar, our ideal, and our aspiration.Through reform of our efforts and reform of this institution, through renewed courage to speak and act whenever and wherever the unalienable rights of innocent people, or the peace of the world, is at risk we will create, as our President said, a more safe and peaceful future for all mankind.” Others have speculated that Pence’s speechwriter had a hand in the article, and that it was just second-nature to include a word that the Vice President loves. Pence has been using the word “lodestar” in speeches dating back as early as 2001. Other Trump officials like James Mattis and John Kelly have never uttered the word publicly. Pence Is the Trump Official With the Most Job Safety in the White House Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018 Another reason for why people think Pence might have authored the op-ed is that he is the most senior Trump official, and has the highest amount of job safety. However, that doesn’t mean he’s entirely protected from Trump’s power, and according to a CNN source, Trump has been on a “rampage” in the wake of the article release. Trump also tweeted out that the official was either “GUTLESS” or non-existent. CNN has released a list of the 13 most likely Trump officials to have authored the op-ed, and Pence is one of them. Only time will tell whether he truly was the author.