Anthony Scaramucci, the former appointee to President Donald Trump's White House communications team, jumped to Trump's defense over reports that Trump tried to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

"It's totally irrelevant because he actually didn't fire Mueller," Scaramucci said during a CNN interview on Thursday night.

Scaramucci previously asserted that Trump was "too smart" to fire Mueller.



Anthony Scaramucci defended President Donald Trump on Thursday night after multiple news outlets reported that Trump tried to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, the man who is overseeing the Russia investigation.

"It's totally irrelevant because he actually didn't fire Mueller," Scaramucci told CNN's Chris Cuomo in an interview from Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday night.

Scaramucci said he did not know Trump had already tried to fire Mueller months before he declared that Trump was "too smart" to make such a move.

The New York Times, Washington Post, and Politico reported Thursday night that in June 2017, Trump ordered White House general counsel Donald McGahn to fire Mueller, who had just been appointed to lead the investigation of Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election.

McGahn, who apparently did not want to carry out the order, threatened to resign instead, effectively prompting Trump to reverse course.

Scaramucci took issue with the timing of the news: "I find it very ironic that this information is coming out while [Trump] is here in Davos, while he's had great fanfare," Scaramucci said before implying that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon may have leaked the information to reporters.

"I would love to get a look at somebody like Steve Bannon's phone records to see who he's talking to, and how this information is out there," he said.

Scaramucci continued: "Why is it coming out right now like a water balloon on the president when he's having a fantastic trip here in Davos; meeting with world leaders, and about to give a fantastic speech about global prosperity and global growth?"

Watch Scaramucci's interview below: