Bannon Apologizes, Celebrates Trump After White House Backlash

(Bloomberg) -- Following harsh criticism from President Donald Trump and his allies, former top White House aide Steve Bannon expressed “regret” for comments attributed to him in an explosive new book, according to a statement he provided to the political website Axios.

“My support is also unwavering for the president and his agenda,” Bannon said in the statement on Sunday about his comments in Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” The book, released on Jan. 5, depicts Trump as paranoid, inept and even unfit to govern.

Among other statements, Bannon cast doubt on the president's future and said it was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for Donald Trump Jr. to have a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer that the president's son thought would provide damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

After excerpts from the book's were released, Trump said on Jan. 3 that Bannon “lost his mind” upon leaving the administration. Rebekah Mercer, a top Republican donor who had helped fund many of Bannon's projects including the conservative news site Breitbart, said she was cutting ties with him.

Bannon said in the statement to Axios that his comments about the Russia meeting were aimed at Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign manager at the time of the meeting, rather than Donald Trump Jr. Bannon is quoted in “Fire and Fury” as saying that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will “crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.” In the statement to Axios, Bannon calls the president's son “both a patriot and a good man.”

‘Diverted Attention'

“He has been relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around,” Bannon said. “I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr. has diverted attention from the president's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency.”

Bannon's apology, which did not deny specific comments quoted in the book, didn't go far enough, Anthony Scaramucci, who spent 10 days as communications director in the White House, said Sunday on Fox News. Scaramucci used a football analogy to say Bannon got to the red zone, which is include the 20-yard line, but not the end zone.

Scaramucci and other Trump allies took to the Sunday morning talk shows to defend the president, including with CIA Director Mike Pompeo saying he's found the president “engaged.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Brody in Washington at btenerellabr@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Mark Niquette, Ros Krasny

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