Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci criticized President Donald Trump’s response to violence in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend, saying the president should have more forcefully condemned the white supremacists who clashed with counter-protesters.
Scaramucci, who was fired last month after just 11 days in his White House role, said on ABC’s “This Week” that the president should have identified the marchers as domestic terrorists, as National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster did on Sunday.
“I think he needed to be much harsher as it related to the white supremacists, and the nature of that.” Scaramucci said. “I applaud General McMaster for calling it out for what it is — 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,” he added.
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As clashes broke out between white nationalist groups and counter-protesters in downtown Charlottesville on Saturday, Trump said “many sides” were responsible for the violence that would leave three dead and dozens more injured.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” Trump said at a press conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J.
Trump’s remarks drew immediate criticism from commentators on the left and right, who argued the president didn’t go far enough to repudiate the behavior of the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups.
When “This Week” host George Stephanopolous asked why Trump didn’t single out the white supremacists, Scaramucci suggested it was due to the influence of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
“I think people are reluctant to tell him the truth. Maybe Ivanka would do that … maybe Jared [Kushner] would do that,” he said.
“You’ve also got this ‘Bannonbart’ influence in there, which I think is a snag on the president,” he said, referring to Bannon and Breitbart News, the conservative website the chief strategist formerly ran.
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