Anthony Scaramucci said Tuesday that President Trump is “blowing very hard” on a racist dog-whistle with his latest attacks against four Democratic congresswomen of color.

Mr. Scaramucci, a Republican political consultant who famously served as President Trump’s White House communications director for ten days before getting fired, told BBC Radio that while he still supports the president politically, he believes the president might be “turning into” a racist.

His comments come after Mr. Trump drew bipartisan criticism for tweets attacking the group of leftist freshmen congresswomen dubbed “The Squad,” which includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, who are all congresswomen of color.

Mr. Trump declared that the congresswomen who “loudly and viciously” criticize the U.S. should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Notably, Ms. Omar, a naturalized citizen who was a refugee from Somalia, is the only member of “The Squad” who wasn’t born in the U.S. Mr. Trump’s tweets have been branded as racist.

Despite the backlash, the president has doubled and tripled down, declaring Tuesday morning that he doesn’t have “a racist bone” in his body and that Ms. Omar and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez “hate our country.”

Mr. Scaramucci, who still calls himself a “friend” of Mr. Trump, said Tuesday that it would be “un-American” of him to not challenge the president’s behavior.

“He’s blowing very hard on a dog-whistle that every ethnic group that’s landed in the United States has had to hear,” Mr. Scaramucci said. “You can’t do that as the president of the United States, in my opinion. It doesn’t mean I don’t support the president — I do. I’ve been loyal to the president.

“That doesn’t mean that I’m going to agree with every single thing that he’s doing. I think it would be un-American not to challenge him on what he’s saying,” he continued. “I don’t think the president is a racist, but here’s the thing: if you continue to say and act in that manner, then we all have to look at him and say, ‘OK, well, maybe you weren’t a racist, but now you’re turning into one. I mean, what are you doing exactly?’”

“To me, what he did over the weekend is reprehensible. Republican elected leaders that can’t call it for what it is — shame on them,” he added.

Would @realDonaldTrump ever tell a white immigrant - whether 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th+ generation - to “go back to your country”? No. That’s why the comments were racist and unacceptable.



America is a nation of immigrants founded on the ideals of free thought and free speech. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 — Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 16, 2019

Your family has an immigrant story and has likely been on receiving end of discrimination. My grandparents came to 🇺🇸 from 🇮🇹 and endured endless “WOP” taunts as they tried to build a better life. Hate is borne out of insecurity - learn from history and don’t let it consume you. — Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 16, 2019

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