The man who helped Steve Bannon guide Donald Trump’s successful campaign for president in 2016 appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” Thursday night and dismissed a new bombshell book about the White House as the “National Enquirer on steroids.”
David Bossie, who took a leave of absence as president of Citizens United to serve as deputy campaign manager for Trump, told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that author Michael Wolff’s reputation raises serious credibility questions.
“This book seems to be [the] National Enquirer on steroids. It’s just sensational journalism. It’s not journalism,” he said. “I’m concerned about what is true and what isn’t true. This author has a history of taking liberties with things.”
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Amid a storm of media coverage of the advance leaks of Wolff’s manuscript, publishers are moving up the release date of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”
The excerpts have provided one salacious detail after another, all hungrily lapped up by a media largely hostile to Trump and his administration. Among the nuggets that have gained the most attention is one quoting former strategist Bannon using the label “treasonous” to describe a meeting that Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign aides had with a Russian lawyer.
“I’m deeply concerned about what my friend, you know, Steve Bannon has said to this person. Look, I don’t believe [this] for a minute.”
Reports of Bannon’s comments prompted Trump this week to launch a blistering attack on his onetime ally.
Bannon responded Thursday, but notably did not dispute Wolff’s account.
“I’m deeply concerned about what my friend, you know, Steve Bannon has said to this person,” said Bossie. “Look, I don’t believe [this] for a minute.”
Co-author of “Let Trump Be Trump,” Bossie disputed the importance of the meeting, which then-chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended. The meeting has been the focus of intense speculation since it came to light.
“It was a fairly standard meeting for anybody who was involved in a campaign,” Bossie said.
He added, “Don Jr. is a very patriotic man. I’ve spent a lot of time with him. He’s the furthest thing from that.”
Bossie said the only purpose of the book is “to fill Michael Wolff’s pockets.”
So why, Ingraham asked, would the White House give Wolff such extraordinary access to the West Wing? Why did top White House officials think Wolff would be fair?
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“He was never going to be,” Bossie responded. “It’s the biggest error. It’s one of the biggest mistakes, and now we’re off the agenda. We’re not talking about the successful tax cuts.”
Bossie also dismissed other revelations in the book suggesting that Trump does not read — and that he might even have psychological problems.
“But it’s a joke. The president is an incredibly well-educated, well-read, and very smart guy,” he said. “You don’t get to be president of the United States if you’re not.”
PoliZette senior writer Brendan Kirby can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.
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