The vice president tweeted Thursday that the piece was “disgraceful” and called on the unidentified author to resign.

The anonymous editorial published in the @nytimes is disgraceful. The author should resign. My thoughts from Orlando where we are on the road touting the accomplishments of @POTUS and this administration are below. We are not deterred. pic.twitter.com/8RzNzZras6 — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) September 6, 2018

The statement comes amid speculation that Pence might be the author of the piece, something his office denied vehemently.

However, Pence has made no comment about the part of the piece that started an embryonic conspiracy theory that he’s the author: the word “lodestar.”

Some people have noticed the VP is fond of the somewhat arcane word, and has used it often since 2001, as this tweet mashup demonstrates:

The theory doesn’t quite check out though, given Pence’s own fawning praise of Trump, and the fact that staffers who supply anonymous quotes to the press have been known to use words or phrases employed by other members of the Trump administration to keep the president guessing.

Still, many Twitter users couldn’t help but bust the VP’s chops just because.

It was really brave of Mother to write that NYT op-ed. — Tainted Democracy - we will resist and prevail (@tainteddemo) September 6, 2018

I don’t trust anyone who squints as much as you. pic.twitter.com/u4ySwOunQX — Ilse (@Appel84Ilse) September 6, 2018

I was talking to God the other day, and he told me he wants you to be President until 2020. Are you SURE there isn't something you want to say? — That Law Guy Kev (@ThatLawGuyKev) September 6, 2018