Chris Ruddy, CEO of the conservative Newsmax outlet, admitted Tuesday he did not speak with President Trump about the idea of firing special counselor Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, after implying Monday that Trump is “considering” that move.
In an interview Tuesday on MSNBC, Ruddy said he most recently spoke with Trump last week but that the conversation did not touch on Mueller.
“I have talked to the president recently but we did not talk about the Mueller situation at all.” He said Trump called him and that “we had a good chat” but that “we did not talk about the Mueller situation.”
Trump friend Chris Ruddy “stands by” claim president sees firing Mueller as an option pic.twitter.com/p90FqgDhmh— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 13, 2017
Ruddy, a close friend of Trump’s, said Monday on PBS that he believed Trump was “considering” firing Mueller, who some Republicans and Trump supporters have begun criticizing for hiring Democrats to help with his investigation.
Ruddy’s comments were picked up by the New York Times, the Washington Post and other national news outlets, given that he had been at the White House earlier in the day. But he had not explicitly said that he had spoken with Trump.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer also confirmed in a statement that Ruddy had not spoken with Trump.
Ruddy said on MSNBC, however, that he still stood by his claim that Trump was considering removing Mueller from leading the investigation “as of yesterday.”
