A Fox News host pressed former President Donald Trump on how he hired staffers, saying he didn’t “drain the swamp like you said you would”.
Maria Bartiromo asked Mr Trump on “Sunday Morning Futures” about whether he would do things differently if he were re-elected.
“The mistake would be people,” Mr Trump said. He called out a few individuals in particular.
“I mean, I wouldn’t have put a guy like [former Attorney General] Bill Barr, and he was weak and pathetic. I wouldn’t have put [former Attorney General] Jeff Sessions,” Mr Trump said. Mr Barr has become a vocal critic of the former president in recent months.
Mr Trump continued, “And there are some people that I wouldn’t have put in. You know, most people were good, but I had some people… we had [former Secretary of Defense] Mark Esper. I didn’t like him. He was incompetent. I thought we had other people I didn’t like.”
“Why did you put them in the job then?” Ms Bartiromo shot back.
“I didn’t know the people,” Mr Trump defended, citing that he hadn’t spend time in Washington, DC until he became president. “I know the people now better than anybody has ever known the people. I know, the good ones, the bad ones, the dumb ones, the smart ones.”
But the host pushed back on his response. She said, “You didn’t drain the swamp like you said you would. You didn’t drain the swamp.”
“I did,” he retorted. “I fired [former FBI Director James] Comey. I fired a lot of people. A lot of the people I had, I fired. I fired Comey very early. And, you know, there was a question as to whether or not you could. But I fired Comey.” He continued, “If I didn’t fire Comey, I don’t think I would have been able to serve out my term because that was a plot.”
Mr Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP nominee. He is leading in a crowded field that includes former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen Tim Scott, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie, among others.
