Trump hits ex-CIA Director Brennan in Tucker Carlson interview for calling Putin news conference 'treasonous'
'Tucker' preview: Trump on 'bad people' Brennan, FBI lovers
Sneak peek: President Trump hammers former CIA Director John Brennan for calling his news conference 'treasonous' and blasts 'bad people' James Comey, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. #Tucker
President Trump slammed former CIA Director John Brennan in an interview with Fox News airing Tuesday, after the ex-intelligence chief described Trump's news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "treasonous."
"I think Brennan is a very bad guy and if you look at it a lot of things happened under his watch," Trump told Fox News' Tucker Carlson. "I think he's a very bad person."
The full interview is set to air on Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" at 8 p.m. ET.
The interview was recorded in Helsinki on Monday following the Trump-Putin news conference, at which Trump appeared to dismiss the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. Trump backtracked on Tuesday, claiming he meant to say he didn't see why Russia "wouldn't" be responsible for the meddling.
On Monday, Brennan tweeted that Trump's performance at the news conference "rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.'"
"Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin," added Brennan. "Republican Patriots: Where are you???"
In his interview, Trump compared Brennan to FBI official Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
"When you watch all of the things that have happened ... you look at the deception, the lies," Trump told Carlson. "These are people that in my opinion are truly bad people, and they’re being exposed for what they are."
During the wide-ranging interview, Trump ripped congressional Democrats for their opposition to his immigration policy.
"The Democrats want open borders, which is basically saying, 'We want open borders, we want crime,'" Trump said. "Maybe it’s a political philosophy they grew up with, maybe they learned it at school, maybe they’re fools. I don’t know."
He also criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying that she had been "very badly hurt" by her migration policy.
"Angela was a superstar until she allowed millions of people to come into Germany," the president said. " ... She was unbeatable in any election [until] she allowed millions of people to come in."