Former short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Thursday that Steve Bannon should retract his "treasonous" comment about Donald Trump Jr. or get back to his therapist.
Scaramucci joined Andrew Cuomo on CNN’s "New Day" to discuss excerpts from Michael Wolff's upcoming book Fire and Fury: Inside the White House, which revealed damaging claims about members of the Trump administration, including comments from Bannon that Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer was "treasonous."
Asked if he would have taken the same meeting Trump Jr. took during the 2016 campaign at Trump Tower, Scaramucci declined to "sanctimoniously" say he wouldn’t have. He instead went on to defend Trump Jr.’s integrity and patriotism before insinuating Bannon needs help for making such comments.
"I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life, so I'm not going to sit here sanctimoniously telling you that I wouldn't have taken the meeting or taken the meeting. What I am going to tell you–because I know for a fact, and I would put all of my money on the table on this–that Donald J. Trump Jr. is an honest guy," Scaramucci said.
"Donald J. Trump Jr. is a very honest person, he’s an American patriot and to call him ‘treasonous’ you’ve got something wrong with you pal," Scaramucci continued. "You’ve got to get back to your therapist and get back on the air and take it back."
"And he won’t do it," Cuomo added. "Bannon's not doing it. He’s had plenty of opportunities."
Scaramucci continued, agreeing with President Donald Trump's statement where the president bashed Bannon over his time at the White House and said the former campaign strategist spent his time "leaking false information to the media to make himself seem far more important than he was."
"So, it’s a sign of what he [Bannon] is like as a person. It’s a sign that it’s his way or the highway. It’s all of the things that the president said about him in his statement and its all the things frankly that I was saying about him. Okay? It's nonsensical," Scaramucci said.
"You’re on the president's staff; you’re on his team. Whatever mistakes I made, I put my heart and soul into it, and I’m a loyal guy," Scaramucci added. "And as far as I'm concerned, he was not."