It’s a pretty common name, to be fair. Multiple news outlets on Sunday evening misidentified the author of an op-ed published earlier in the day in The Guardian, which claimed that former President Donald Trump might be President Joe Biden’s “best hope for re-election.” Both The Hill and Mediaite attributed the article to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer. In fact, it was written by Michael Cohen, a former opinion columnist at The Boston Globe and, as he was identified at the bottom of the Guardian column, the author of a book on national security and fear-mongering.
The columnist Michael Cohen called Trump a “bogeyman” and “the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats” in his op-ed, arguing that “the spectre of Trump could be their most effective strategy for maintaining power.” Shortly after The Hill’s piece was published, the writer picked it up and shared it on Twitter, writing that he found it “legitimately hilarious” that he had been confused with the former attorney, who is currently under house arrest. Mediate published its article more than half an hour after Cohen’s tweet. Both outlets swiftly issued corrections.
