Across the country, efforts are underway to identify an anonymous senior White House official who penned a New York Times op-ed admonishing President Donald Trump over his leadership and claiming to be part of a "resistance" within the U.S. leader's administration.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel believes he's already cracked the code, however, thanks to a single word dropped into the bottom paragraphs of the piece: "lodestar."
In fact, Kimmel is one of many to have said that the use of the uncommon word, which was used to describe the late Senator John McCain, points to only one person in the White House: Vice President Mike Pence.
Kimmel opened his show on Wednesday night by reading an excerpt from the op-ed, remarking: "That is something."
"I mean, that is really remarkable," he said, before joking: "And I have to say, I'm surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is. I never would have guessed."
"Of course, there's a lot of speculation now about who wrote this," Kimmel said. "And this to me is the most interesting theory," he said, referring to the "unusual word" the author chose to use in the piece.
"The word was 'lodestar.' They wrote, we may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example–a lodestar for restoring honor to public life...'"
"That's not a common word, 'lodestar.' Not a lot of people use that word," Kimmel said.
"But you know who does use that word? This guy," he said, before cutting to a montage of Pence using the word repeatedly in a number of speeches delivered in recent years.
"Wouldn't that be something if it was Mike Pence?" Kimmel asked.
"Trump just announced that the Space Force's first mission is to locate and destroy the lodestar, whatever that may be," he quipped.
The late show host said the op-ed was likely to "drive Trump absolutely nuts."
"Can you imagine what it must be like to have a job at which almost everyone who works for you thinks you're a complete idiot? I can. And I'll tell you something, it's no fun at all," he said.
In fact, Trump has already taken to Twitter to express outrage over the op-ed, questioning the existence of the "so-called 'Senior Administration Official.'"
"Does the so-called 'Senior Administration Official' really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?" the U.S. leader wrote.
"If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, The Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to the government at once," the president added.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has blasted the op-ed writer, whoever they may be, as a "coward" who should "resign."
Pence himself has yet to comment on the op-ed, as rumors continue to swirl that he may be the most likely author.
