First Lady Melania Trump issued a rare statement condemning the anonymous “deep state” official who submitted an op-ed to the New York Times.
“To the writer of the oped — You are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions,” she wrote in a statement sent to reporters.
The first lady said that anonymous sources were hurting news coverage across the board.
“Unidentified sources have become the majority of the voices people hear about in today’s news,” she said. “People with no names are writing our nation’s history.”
She challenged the anonymous author of the critical op-ed of the president to reveal their identity.
“If a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words and people have the right to be able to defend themselves,” the first lady wrote.
She also emphasized the importance of free speech and a free press but said that they should be “fair, unbiased, and responsible.