On September 5, 2018 the New York Times published an anonymous Op-ed essay written by a senior official in the Trump administration. The Times has released a statement that it will protect the identity of the author as his or her job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.

The essay itself establishes that the author is part of a group of individuals inside the Trump administration who have vowed to thwart parts of president’s agenda and his worst inclinations.

According to the author, Trump’s a-morality and lack of empathy is the root of the problem in the White House.

“Anyone who works with President Trump knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making,” the author stated in the letter to the New York Times. “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 so many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulse until he is out of office.”  

The author made clear that this group of individuals inside the Trump administration is not part of “the popular resistance from the left.” The group, rather, has recognized that although Trump was elected as a Republican, the president shows little respect for standard conservative ideology: free minds, free markets and free people.

He or she also recognizes that there have been bright spots throughout the presidency: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a robust military, and more. But, “these successes have come despite, not because of, the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”

Consequently, after publishing this anonymous letter, the New York Times has received extreme backlash from its subscribers and the nation.

“Why publish this? What purpose does it serve, other than to enrage its target and assuage the guilt of a collaborator? We have a mad king and a shadow government. This is a coup, not a heroic attempt to save democracy,” Henry Matthews from New York said in an online comment concerning the purpose of publishing the piece.

The New York Times responded in a separate article containing the answers to comments and questions from its readers about the op-ed. “In our view, this Op-Ed offered a significant first-person perspective we haven’t presented to our readers before: that of a conservative explaining why they felt that even if working for the Trump administration meant compromising some principles, it ultimately served the country if they could achieve some of the president’s policy objectives while helping resist some of his worst impulses.”

Additionally, the New York Times has received considerable backlash from the president himself. According to Trump, the article is a gutless editorial.

“Nobody has ever done in less than a two-year period what we’ve done,” the president said in a National Radio Broadcast interview hosted by Audie Cornish on the evening of September 5. “So when you tell me about some anonymous source within the administration probably who is failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons, I know – and The New York Times is failing. If I weren’t here, I believe The New York Times probably wouldn’t even exist.”

President Trump has also stated that he is urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to pursue an investigation to uncover the identity of the op-ed writer ー an action that threatens our freedom of speech as Americans.

“What’s unfair, I don’t mind when they write a book and they make lies because it gets discredited,” Trump said, but it’s more difficult “when somebody writes and you can’t discredit because you have no idea who they are.”

That’s exactly the reason the author chose to remain anonymous. To avoid copious diatribes from our president, which are both incessantly puerile and utterly tyrannical.

Trump, who has a history of discrediting and attacking those who stand up to him, condemns those who speak “lies” about him but continues to manufacture the epitome of lies: that the media is the enemy of the American people.

The enemy of the people, rather, is he who condemns free speech. And that is exactly what President Trump is doing through criticizing the author of the op-ed and the NY Times for publishing this piece.

Although the op-ed writer has faced profuse criticism, he or she should be recognized for standing up for some of our most important universal American values: making a sacrifice for the betterment of the country and utilizing our blessing of free speech.