The forthcoming book by Bob Woodward is "old news," Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy argued in a CNN interview.
Ruddy appeared on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" Tuesday and told host Chris Cuomo that Woodward's book — "Fear: Trump in the White House" — is full of anonymous sources singing a familiar tune. [See CNN Clip Go Here]
"This book is not so much fake news as it's old news. It's a redo of Michael Wolff's book," Ruddy said, referring to "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."
"Very similar themes: The president is crazy. The president says nasty things about people."
He pointed out that many of Woodward’s stories come from the first six to eight months of the Trump administration, a period Ruddy described as “tumultuous” during Reince Preibus' tenure as chief of staff.
The president, he said, later made an important change by bringing in Gen. John Kelly, while other presidential appointees, such as Larry Kudlow and John Bolton, have helped organize the White House better.
Ruddy admitted that Woodward, who was on a team of Washington Post reporters that broke the story of the Watergate Scandal in the early 1970s, is a "good reporter," but his sources aren't always reliable.
"He has a history of being a hostage to his sources," Ruddy said. "Many books he's done where if you're giving him information, administrative sources, they get good portrayals in the books. People that don't give him information, like the president, they don't come across so well."
When Cuomo pointed out that Woodward asked to interview Trump on several occasions, Ruddy said Trump made the right choice by not talking to him.
"The way this book has turned out, I think the president looks like he was smart not to talk to him because he talked to a lot of people that were ex-administration people that were not very happy with the president," Ruddy said. "At least that's what we were led to believe. It's all anonymous sourcing."
Ruddy also noted the book appears to be a political hit job, coming on the eve of the Congressional midterms. Meanwhile, the media are ignoring the president’s successes with the economy.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.