Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Wednesday accused President Trump of dishonesty, but said his lies were similar to those of any politician.
In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Scaramucci looked into the camera to address Trump and said, “You know, you’re a politician now, so politicians lie when their lips are moving, and so all these people lie.”
{mosads}”But you should probably dial down the lying, because you don’t need to,” he added. “You’re doing a great job for the country. So dial that down, and you’ll be doing a lot better.”
During the interview, Scaramucci was pressed by CNN’s John Berman on whether he would call the president a “liar.”
“I asked you: What do you call someone who likes to lie? You said a scoundrel,” Berman said. “Another thing you could call someone who likes to lie is a liar. Is he a liar?”
“Well, we both know that he’s telling lies. So if you want me to say he’s a liar, I’m happy to say he’s a liar,” Scaramucci replied.
Scaramucci was ousted by White House chief of staff John Kelly last year after a very brief stint as communications director. He has remained a somewhat critical, public supporter of the president in recent months.
In an interview earlier this week he said Kelly’s “hissy fits” hurt the Trump administration.
“He hurt the morale inside the place and he’s hurt the president. And he has hissy fits,” Scaramucci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The good news is, I’m being vindicated by that because he’s demonstrating his personality now, the way he really is,” Scaramucci added.