A former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staffer who gave an endorsement to 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs up in the Oval Office with Donald Trump in response to a tweet by the president claiming he had never heard of him.
Miles issued his own tweet on Tuesday saying that he had "not forgotten" President Trump, after the commander in chief described Taylor as a “disgruntled employee” and said that he had never heard of him.
Alas, I’ll take the bait. Haven’t forgotten you though! I guess the only way to prove it is to tell some stories. Maybe until the election. What do you think? https://t.co/2dJhaLFNlN pic.twitter.com/m3msUsDJyZ
— Miles Taylor (@MilesTaylorUSA) August 18, 2020
According to The Hill, a White House official said that "the president takes thousands of photos with individuals he does not know, so [Trump's] tweet should not be that surprising".
Trump’s criticism follows Taylor endorsing former Vice President Biden in an ad entitled 'Republican Voters Against Trump'.
He also wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post alleging that Trump had attempted to "exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda".
Taylor gave an interview earlier on Tuesday for ABC’s “Good Morning America”, where he brushed off criticism from the White House that his motivations for criticising the Trump presidency were motivated by profit.
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump administration official Miles Taylor speaks out on breaking with Pres. Trump and endorsing Joe Biden. https://t.co/io8dW4sq7E pic.twitter.com/hBZsncaZz5
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 18, 2020
Taylor served with the DHS between 2017 and 2019 and spent some of his DHS tenure as chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
