Scaramucci: Trump Should Have Taken Harder Stance Against White Supremacists

Former White House communications director still thinks the president is a "winner."

August 14, 2017 10:15 am
George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci
In a "This Week" Exclusive, George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, in his first television interview after his whirlwind 11-day stint in the White house. The interview airs on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Sunday, August 13, 2017 on the ABC Television Network. (Photo by Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images)

This morning on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Anthony Scaramucci said that he would have advised President Donald Trump to take a harder stance on this weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, VA.

Trump has been criticized for his statement that he condemns displays of “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides,” writes Vanity FairScaramucci said that he thinks Trump needed to be “much harsher as it related to the white supremacists and the nature of that.” The former White House communications director said that “it’s actually terrorism. Whether it’s domestic or international terrorism, with the moral authority of the presidency, you have to call that stuff out.”

Vanity Fair writes that some people are suggesting Trump isn’t condemning the white supremacists who met in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a Confederate statue because he is worried about alienating his base. But Scaramucci said that Trump prefers to do the opposite of whatever the media thinks he is doing. He also said that Trump is under the impression that there is hatred on all sides, but that it is important for the people surrounding the president “to be blunt with him.”

Scaramucci also bashed Steve Bannon, who he thinks is a “snag” on the president. He all but suggested that Bannon should be fired, writes Vanity Fair, alluding to an article in Axios this weekend that Trump is worried Bannon has been a source in recent White House leaks.

Scaramucci remained proud of the president though, saying that the GOP is lucky to have him on their side because Trump is “a winner.”

After he was fired from the White House after only 10 days as communications director, Scaramucci said that he was going to be “going dark” until Labor Day. However, he changed his strategy slightly, starting with the interview on ABC. On Monday night, he will appear on Stephen Colbert.

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