On the Tulsa-based "The Pat Campbell Show," on Feb. 4, 2016, Scott Pruitt, who was then Oklahoma's attorney general and an adviser to presidential candidate Jeb Bush, said he wouldn't support Trump. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo EPA’s Pruitt in 2016: Trump would be 'abusive to the Constitution'

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told an Oklahoma radio show in 2016 that Donald Trump in the White House would be "more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama," according to a recording released Tuesday by a watchdog group.

On the Tulsa-based "The Pat Campbell Show," on Feb. 4, 2016, Pruitt, who was then Oklahoma's attorney general and an adviser to presidential candidate Jeb Bush, said he wouldn't support Trump.


"I really believe he would use a blunt instrument," Pruitt said of Trump. "This president at least tries to nuance his unlawfulness."

If Trump became president, "he would take, I think, unapologetic steps to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional," Pruitt said.

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Campbell said his father saw Trump as dangerous, and Pruitt agreed.

"You know, your dad is very astute because I'll say to you — I think he has tendencies that we see in emerging countries around the world where — he goes to the disaffected — those individuals, and says, look, you give me power and I will give voice to your concerns. And that's a dangerous place to be," he said.

At a Senate hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who released the audio recording provided by Documented Investigations, asked Pruitt if he recalled the radio interview.

"I don't, senator," Pruit answered. "And I don't echo that today at all."

In a statement released after the hearing, Pruitt praised the president.

“After meeting him, and now having the honor of working for him, it is abundantly clear that President Trump is the most consequential leader of our time. No one has done more to advance the rule of law than President Trump. The President has liberated our country from the political class and given America back to the people,” Pruitt said.

Alex Guillen contributed to this report.