Just because President Trump tweeted an endorsement for Judge Jeanine Pirro’s show hours before she said Speaker Paul Ryan needs to step down doesn’t mean they coordinated that message, according to an informal advisor to Trump.
Anthony Scaramucci, an informal adviser to Trump and a member of his transition team, said on CNN that Trump didn’t know Pirro was going to call for Ryan’s head on her Fox News show.
“It’s a coincidence,” he said. “Jeanine said last night on her show they didn’t talk about that and she’s a very honest person. I think it’s a coincidence.”
Trump has been publicly supportive of Ryan’s place in the House since the American Health Care Act failed in the lower chamber Friday afternoon. The GOP healthcare replacement plan was scheduled for a vote on Thursday and Friday, but was eventually pulled Friday afternoon when Ryan made it clear to trump the votes weren’t there.
.@Scaramucci: @realDonaldTrump tweet hyping Judge Jeanine's anti-@SpeakerRyan themed show was merely coincidence https://t.co/yvDzqkRWeI— New Day (@NewDay) March 27, 2017
Trump said he believes Ryan should stay in his role, but tweeted on Saturday for everyone to watch Pirro’s show. The first words she said on the show called for Ryan to step down as speaker, and many interpreted that as a subtle way of Trump calling for Ryan’s head.
Scaramucci said that wasn’t the case.
“The president likes her a lot and he was promoting her show,” he said.
