White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is reportedly working to make peace between President Donald Trump and CNN.
Buzzfeed News obtained transcripts of Scaramucci speaking on a hot microphone in between appearances on Fox News, CNN and CBS News talk shows on Sunday. After an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Scaramucci spoke on the phone with Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief. Trump’s new hire asked Feist when the two could get together, according to the transcript.
“In the back of my mind I have to call on CNN and send a message to [CNN President Jeff] Zucker that we are back in business,” he said. In the transcripts, Scaramucci says Zucker helped him get his job at the White House after CNN forced three empoyees to resign over an inaccurate news story on Russia and Trump that mentioned Scaramucci’s name.
The new White House communications director mentioned that he called upon both CNN and Breitbart intentionally in the Friday White House briefing, saying, “I’m trying to deescalate the tension across the entire media spectrum. Breitbart would be on the right and CNN would be on the left. I intentionally sought out both to send a symbolic message that we are trying to deescalate.” (RELATED: Tapper Goes After Scaramucci For Changing His Stance On Trump)
Scaramucci told Buzzfeed News how Trump views CNN and how he hopes to improve the relationship in a Sunday interview. “The president feels that 97% of [CNN’s] coverage is about him, and 93% of the 97% is decidedly negative. We’re hoping that we can change it.”
Buzzfeed confirmed that Scaramucci made those comments on a hot microphone, but he claims that his remarks were mainly jokes.
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