Former short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Thursday there is no one "less treasonous" than Donald Trump Jr. while defending him from reported remarks made by Steve Bannon.
Scaramucci appeared on "Good Morning America" to discuss the explosive drama playing out in the White House this week, after a new book's excerpts revealed Bannon making scathing remarks about multiple Trump administration members. They included him calling Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russians at Trump Tower in 2016 "treasonous," mocking the intelligence of Ivanka Trump and predicting Robert Mueller's Russia investigation could get into money laundering.
"The treasonous comment is absolutely ridiculous," Scaramucci told host George Stephanopoulos. "If Steve said that, he should get on the air, he should come on your show today, and take it back, because there's nobody less treasonous than Don Junior. There's nobody more patriotic. Perhaps the president is more patriotic than Don Junior, but that's about it."
President Trump ripped into Bannon, his former top strategist, in a statement Wednesday, saying he "lost his mind" and only pretended to have influence to fool reporters.
Scaramucci was asked by Stephanopoulos if he felt vindicated in his criticism of Bannon as a self-promoter. Scaramucci's characterization of Bannon last summer as someone trying to fellate himself helped lead to his ouster after 10 days in the White House.
Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russians in 2016 who promised "dirt" on Hillary Clinton's campaign has been used as evidence the campaign at least attempted to "collude" with the Kremlin in its election meddling efforts.
"To say somebody is treasonous and doing something against the interest of the United States because they took a meeting is absolutely ridiculous," Scaramucci said. "You're not going to meet a more honest person than Don Junior ... You have to have criminal intent to do something that's treasonous."