Stephen Bannon late Wednesday called President Trump a “great man” — even after Trump tore into the former White House chief strategist following the release of excerpts from an explosive new book.
“The president is a great man,” Bannon said on “Breitbart News Tonight,” broadcast on Sirius XM, when asked about the feud between himself and Trump, according to The Washington Post.
“You know I support him day in and day out.”
On Wednesday, Trump split from Bannon in dramatic fashion after his once-close political ally offered explosive criticism of the president and his family in a new book.
{mosads}In a statement Trump released, he accused Bannon of having “lost his mind” and of being “only in it for himself.”
“Steve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books,” Trump said.
Allies of Bannon also sought to distance themselves as the extent of his break with Trump became clear.
In the book, Bannon reportedly calls a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between people including Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
President Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday also reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon, ordering him to refrain from making “disparaging” statements about Trump and his family.