A longtime confidant of President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE said Sunday that the president has called "much of" the controversy surrounding Stormy Daniels a "political hoax."

"He said he thought that much of the Stormy Daniels stuff was a political hoax," Chris Ruddy said during an interview on ABC's "This Week."

"Again, those were his words."

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Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, added that he thinks the American people are "really dismissing this as political witch hunts."

The comments come ahead of a highly anticipated "60 Minutes" interview with Daniels that is scheduled to air Sunday night. She is expected to reveal details of the affair she claims she had with Trump in 2006.

D aniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — filed a lawsuit earlier this month in an effort to void a nondisclosure agreement she says bars her from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with Trump more than a decade ago.

She was paid $130,000 by Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen weeks before the 2016 presidential election. That payment, she says, was intended to buy her silence about the alleged affair.

Last week her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, hinted that he may have evidence to back up her claims by posting a photo of what appeared to be a DVD on Twitter.

The Washington Post reported that Trump has been complaining about the media attention Daniels has been receiving. He has also questioned how the controversy surrounding Daniels could impact his poll numbers, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the conversations.