Jimmy Kimmel Says He Knows Who Wrote NY Times Op-Ed About Trump’s White House (Video)

The key evidence is in the use of the word “lodestar,” late-night host says

The question on everyone’s minds Wednesday, especially President Trump’s, is who wrote the mysterious, anonymous New York Times op-ed that has gotten the White House into such a tizzy.

Well, Jimmy Kimmel thinks he has the answer, and he shared a vital piece of the evidence with his audience Wednesday night.

“Yet another unprecedented day of tumult and infighting in a Wild Wild West Wing, where Team Trump is absolutely reeling from the aftershocks of a brutal bombshell from within their ranks,” the ABC late-night host said in his opening monologue. “The ‘failing New York Times’ today published an anonymous op-ed written by a current senior member of Trump’s administration.”

Kimmel was, of course, referring to the op-ed saying that senior officials in Trump’s administration “are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous. But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.”

“That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office,” it continued.

Kimmel read out excerpts of the piece, stressing: “Again, this was written by a senior staffer — who currently works for the President of the United States,” adding that one scary line was, “‘many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. I would know. I am one of them.’ …  Remember in the horror movies in the ’80s where it would be, ‘The call is coming from inside the White House!’”

Kimmel went on to dig into who he thinks penned the piece, at first joking, “I have to say, I’m surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is,” he said.

“Of course, there is a lot of speculation now about who wrote this, and this, to me, is the most interesting theory. Somebody online noticed an unusual word in the op-ed – ‘lodestar.’ They wrote, ‘We may no longer have Senator McCain, but we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life.’”

“That’s not a common word, lodestar, not a lot of people use that word … but you know who does use that word? This guy.”

Kimmel went on to air a video montage of Mike Pence saying lodestar — over and over.

“That’s right, Vice President Michael Elizabeth Pence uses the word lodestar like it’s, like it’s actually … wouldn’t that be something if it was Mike Pence?” he marveled.

“Trump just announced that the Space Force’s first mission is to locate and destroy the Lodestar,” Kimmel quipped.

For those of you who are wondering, the dictionary definition of “lodestar” is “one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide” or “archaic: a star that leads or guides; especially the north star.”

And sadly no, Mike Pence’s middle name isn’t Elizabeth — it’s Richard.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs at 11:35 p.m. on ABC.

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