Remember, Miles Taylor? You might better know him as “Anonymous,” the infamous Trump official (at the time) who claimed to be working to save the country from the inside.
When “Anonymous” first dropped an op-ed in The New York Times mid-way through the Trump administration, speculation ran wild. Who could the unnamed official be? Was it Jared Kushner? Was it Nikki Haley? Was it someone holding a cabinet post?
It wasn’t until 2020 that the truth finally came out, and it was anti-climactic, to say the least. When Taylor revealed himself as “Anonymous,” I didn’t even know who he was, and I wasn’t alone. Far from a top-level official with the power to save anything, he was just a deputy chief of staff within DHS.
As all former Trump officials who become vehement critics are prone to do, they can’t get enough of the spotlight. Taylor inserted himself into the January 6th committee proceedings, making a claim that Joe Biden’s own Secret Service came out to debunk. Then came the book deal because they always get book deals.
In a new interview to promote that new book, Taylor claimed that he nearly committed suicide on election night in 2020 because he thought Trump was going to win again.
A Trump administration insider who waged war against the president under the moniker “Anonymous” said he considered suicide on election night 2020 when it appeared the former president was going to win.
Miles Taylor, the former Homeland Security chief of staff who turned on his boss in a New York Times column and then a book under the byline “Anonymous,” said he nearly pulled a pistol from under his pillow to shoot himself that night.
In an interview to promote his latest book, Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump, he said indications that President Donald Trump was going to win were a failure of his efforts to torpedo the 45th president’s reelection.
Under fire for his criticism, Taylor said that by Election Day, his life was in shambles, his marriage was over, his bank account was empty, and he was forced to live in safe houses.
I’d normally never question someone who says they have contemplated suicide. In this case, I’m making an exception, though, given Taylor’s history. Here, we have a man using suicide as a political prop to promote himself and his new book, and to be frank, I don’t believe him for a second.
In fact, I’d suspect that Taylor was actively rooting for Trump to win the 2020 election. Why? Because another Trump administration would have meant him remaining somewhat relevant. The cable news networks would have kept calling, and the offers to write op-eds would have continued. By contrast, following Biden’s ascension to the White House, Taylor has been reduced to giving interviews to nobodies to plug a book no one is going to read.
Besides, what was Taylor so scared of? Having a good economy? Not having Russia invade Ukraine? Let’s be real. Taylor is a textbook narcissistic, and I simply don’t believe he ever actually contemplated suicide, but if he did, that’s conclusive evidence he needs to leave politics behind. No one should ever have that much faith in Washington, D.C.
Suicide is not a joke. It’s not something you use to promote a book. It’s a serious issue that should be treated seriously. Taylor, on the other hand, is not a serious person.
