Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
© 2023 Washingtonian Media Inc.
Privacy Policy
All Rights Reserved
 Rss
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
Washingtonian.com
  • Subscribe
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
  • News & Politics
  • Things to Do
  • Food
  • Health
  • Shopping
  • Home & Style
  • Real Estate
  • Weddings
  • Travel

  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Trending Now in News & Politics
  • Rare items
  • Crime
  • Groundhog Day
  • I.Q.
  • Barack Obama
News & Politics

This Low-Key Suburban Dude Is One of Trump’s Most Notorious Antagonists

Twitter star Claude Taylor always has juicy inside info about Trump. Can you trust it?

Written by Britt Peterson
| Published on October 4, 2017
Tweet Share
Claude Taylor
Claude Taylor, checking in. Photograph by Evy Mages

As one of the Twittersphere’s more visible Trump antagonists, Claude Taylor is used to confrontation. So when he abruptly terminated a testy phone exchange not long ago, it came as a surprise. “We’re going on in circles here,” he snapped, not inaccurately.

We had been talking about Taylor’s unorthodox newsgathering tactics, which have earned him almost 200,000 Twitter followers. Using the handle @TrueFactsStated, Taylor tweets a stream of breathlessly reported anti-Trump news, which he claims comes from various inside sources. Some of his information has proved to be on the mark. In April, for instance, he told followers that grand juries had been empaneled in the FBI’s Russia investigation—nearly two full weeks before CNN reported a similar story. But he has also made outlandishly implausible claims that have been derided by conservative and liberal observers alike, such as a May “exclusive”—coauthored with fellow anti-Trump tweeter and sometime collaborator Louise Mensch—that alleged, against all procedural logic, that “a sealed indictment has been granted against Donald Trump.”

Before our phone conversation, I had spent a day hanging out with Taylor, cruising around Rock Creek Park in his vintage Ford Torino and getting a feel for his odd existence as a low-key suburban dude who’s also at the scalding center of what he sees as an information war. In person, Taylor is friendly and open, with a slouchy, shuffling demeanor that betrays his former life as a ski bum and ranch hand. Having grown up mostly in Maine, he worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns and did a stint as the White House’s director of volunteers. In the late ’90s, he launched a career as a travel photographer, opening a Dupont Circle gallery to hawk his work. Much of his Trump intel, he says, comes from plugged-in former customers of his shop. The gallery closed last year, and these days Taylor—who lives in the Maryland suburbs—travels the country selling photos at art fairs, where fans often approach to shake his hand and ask for selfies.

Taylor has frequently been criticized for his methods, which don’t appear to involve the sort of careful, multi-sourced reporting favored by mainstream news outlets. He doesn’t think of himself as a journalist, he says, but rather as a “bomb-thrower,” whatever that means. Many of his followers consider him a folk hero. Skeptics say he’s merely a liberal counterpart to the right-wing truth-twisters who have helped erode trust in the media.

“When all is said and done,” Taylor says, “I’ll be pretty comfortable if I hit 80 percent.” Of course, that would mean one out of every five of his reports is inaccurate.

In August, the Guardian published a story revealing that Taylor had been taken in by a crude hoax over the summer. A phony source, pretending to work in the New York attorney general’s office, had fed him a sensational false story, and Taylor had fallen for it, heavily promoting it as a scoop. The info quickly burned up left-wing Twitter, where anti-Trump wishful thinking can overshadow rational analysis. It was an embarrassing misstep that only heightened concerns about Taylor’s less-than-rigorous style of citizen journalism.

Talking on the phone just after the Guardian article broke, Taylor sounded chastened—but also a bit prickly. “It was a hoax, and I fell for it,” he said. “I have accepted responsibility and acknowledged the error. That’s the end of the story as far as I’m concerned. I need to be more careful with what comes in. At this point, anything from a new source is treated with skepticism.”

That approach makes sense, but is it really enough? Isn’t he worried that by spreading this kind of bad information, even unintentionally, he’s proving his critics right? We went back and forth like that for a bit, until Taylor apparently tired of the discussion.

“Have a nice day,” he said. Click.

This article appears in the October 2017 issue of Washingtonian.

More: Claude TaylorDonald TrumpMediaTwitter
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Britt Peterson
Britt Peterson

Britt Peterson is a contributing editor for Washingtonian.

Most Popular in News & Politics

1

Why Did Rebecca Romney Move to DC?

2
savopoulos mansion murders

It’s Been a Year Since DC’s Mansion Murders. Why Hasn’t Anyone Else Been Arrested?

3

Inside a DC Bar’s Long, Strange Quest to Rent a Groundhog

4
Permanent Daylight Saving Time

Whatever Happened to Permanent Daylight Saving Time?

5

Metro Head Randy Clarke Talks About How It’s Going So Far

Washingtonian Magazine

February 2023: 100 Very Best Restaurants

February 2023: 100 Very Best Restaurants

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

Marjorie Taylor Green vs. Dr. Dre Joins the Long History of Politicians Beefing With Musicians

Can a DC Watchdog Group Keep Trump From Running?

UPDATE: Helicopters of DC Weighs In on Twitter Suspension

Rudy Giuliani One Step Closer to Disbarment in DC

More from News & Politics

Coachella Sues Moechella, Saying the DC Protests Infringe on the Music Festival’s Trademark

Metro Head Randy Clarke Talks About How It’s Going So Far

Talking Movies With George Pelecanos, Who Is Showcasing Some of His Favorite ’70s Films at AFI Silver

Inside a DC Bar’s Long, Strange Quest to Rent a Groundhog

Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This February

Why Did Rebecca Romney Move to DC?

PHOTOS: Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen Opening Celebration

Photograph by Flickr user Kari Nesler.

DC Statehood Advocates Shrug Off Joe Biden’s License Plate “Snub”

© 2023 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs